A Mysterious Way
by JennyJoy4
Summary: Sequel to Dark and Deep. Katie's grandmother Vivian has appeared in Rivendell as well, and together they begin to learn more about the relationship between Men and Elves. But something is not right in the peaceful community of Imladris... COMPLETE!
1. Arrival

Elrond watched, bemused, as Katie sprang up from her chair and ran over, giving her grandmother a huge hug. "Grandma! What are you doing here?" Her expression told that she immediately realized what a very stupid question that was.

"Katie!" her grandmother exclaimed, hugging her back. Her eyes shone with excitement. "This isn't… is it?"

Katie grinned. "Grandma, welcome to Middle-earth."

Her grandmother laughed in glee, then looked over at the table. Elrond and the others had all risen to their feet, and the ones that were on the opposite side of the table from their new guest came forward and gathered around her.

"Everyone, this is my grandmother, Vivian Lewis," Katie said, beginning the introductions. "Gram, you already know Elladan, Elrohir and Estel." They smiled and greeted her warmly, glad to see her again. "This is Elrond, Lord of Rivendell," she continued.

Elrond reached out and took Vivian's hands. "I am very pleased to finally meet you," he said warmly. "My sons have told me about you and the assistance you rendered them."

"And the assistance they rendered _me_," Vivian said gently, "for which I am forever grateful."

Elrond smiled. This woman had a grace and self-assurance Katie had not yet mastered. "This is my daughter, Arwen Undómiel. And these are Mithrandir, Glorfindel and Erestor." They all bowed courteously, and Vivian curtseyed back.

"Pleased to meet you," she said formally, a smile lingering on her lips.

They took their places back at the table, and Glorfindel drew a chair up for Vivian.

"So, what do you think of your first experience in inter-dimensional travel?" Katie asked her grandmother when they were all settled.

"Not bad in the least," Vivian answered cheerfully. "I was walking toward the kitchen to start getting supper and… here I was!"

Katie frowned suddenly. "What day was it?"

"October sixteenth; why?"

"Oh, good. That's the day I left from. I just wanted to make sure we were on the same time frame."

Vivian looked surprised. "How long have you been here?" she asked.

"A couple months," Katie divulged.

Elrond observed the two of them, aware that the others were doing the same. Elladan had made some mention to him about Vivian's individuality, and he now understood what his son had meant. Vivian was most certainly human; there was no doubt about that. There was even a marked resemblance between her and Katie. But there was something about her that set her apart, even more than the difference between most men and the Dúnedain. The difference was of an entirely new order, but he didn't know what it was. She was human, and yet she was not.

He pulled his gaze away from the new guest, and he and Mithrandir exchanged an understanding look. The wizard had sensed it as well.

Elrond sent for Lithorniel, and had her arrange a room for the new arrival. It was late, and soon the group split up to go to their own chambers.

Katie led Vivian down the maze of corridors. "Lord Elrond said your room was next to mine," she said.

Vivian was gazing in wonder at everything they passed. "This place is gorgeous!" she finally exclaimed. "And confusing. I bet I'd get lost in it pretty quickly."

"It takes a little time to learn your way around," Katie agreed, "and I'm sure there are plenty of rooms I've never been in yet. But it's not that bad. And here's your room!"

She turned the knob and led her grandmother in. There was a small fire in the hearth and the bed had been all made up for her. Vivian sat down on the sofa with a contented sigh. "So what have you been up to for two months?" she asked her granddaughter, patting the cushion next to her. "And what happened to Elrohir? He looks as if he's been in a fight, and his hair is so short!"

Katie winced. "I'm glad you didn't mention it to of him. He's a bit self-conscious about it."

"It didn't seem the right moment," Vivian said. "Well? What happened to him? And what happened to you? You seem to be recovering from a black eye yourself, and are those stitches in your cheek?"

So Katie explained the adventures of the past few weeks and recounted her part in the goings-on. Vivian reached over and gave her a spontaneous hug when she told about being kidnapped by one of the bandits.

Katie smiled and put her head down on her grandmother's chest, as she used to when she was little. Vivian's garnet cross necklace dug into her cheekbone.

"I'm fine," she said finally, pulling back. "Lord Elrond stitched up my cheek for me, as you can see."

"Yes, you seem to be healing quite quickly," Vivian agreed. "What happened next?"

She was incensed when Katie told about the bandits cutting off Elrohir's hair. "That's terrible!" she exclaimed. "I hope they got their comeuppance!"

"Oh, they did," Katie said emphatically. "But I'll get to that!"

When she came to the end of the story, Vivian sat back and regarded her, bemused. "You _have_ been busy, haven't you?"

Katie laughed. "Yes, I have. When I wasn't being kidnapped by bad guys or drowning slave-traders, I took lessons with Erestor. He's been teaching me about Middle-earth."

"Now that's a class anyone could get into!" Vivian said, impressed. "I hope you pay better attention to him than you do in algebra. Don't try to deny it; I've seen your notebook!"

Katie couldn't help but chuckle. "Oh, I pay attention. And sometimes, the lessons come in handy. For instance, I learned about Mithrandir before I ever met him."

"Was that the older gentleman I met?"

"Yep. And Grandma—he's a _wizard_."

"Really?" she looked as excited as Katie herself had been when she learned that. "Wizards, elf-lords, a magic ring… it's like a fairy tale! I don't suppose you turn out to be a princess and marry the handsome prince, do you?"

Katie grinned mischievously. "I don't think Legolas would have me. No," she said prosaically, "the only human around here is Estel, and—" she almost said, 'and he's taken,' thinking of Arwen, but she stopped herself. "He's not my type," she finished up. "And the elves are too high above me. No, if this is a fairy tale, then I'm gonna end up the first old-maid fairy princess in history."

Vivian laughed, then yawned. "Oh my, it is getting late, isn't it? Look how low the fire's burnt. We should probably say goodnight."

"Goodnight, Gram," Katie said, standing up and bending over to kiss her cheek. Vivian kissed her back. "Sleep tight; don't let the bedbugs bite!"

"That's my line!" her grandmother exclaimed with mock indignation.

000

The next morning, Katie took Vivian on a basic tour of the house. They ended up in the kitchen, where they found Lithorniel chatting to Lossefalme, who was putting some shears in a basket in preparation for doing some flower cutting.

After Katie had introduced her grandmother to the two maids, she turned to Lossefalme. "Can we come along?"

The elleth's expression turned a little doubtful, and Lithorniel laughed. "Lossefalme knows where to find the most vibrant blooms, but she never tells anyone where she gets them from. It is her little secret, passed down from a senior member of staff. She has done this for years, sneaking off somewhere in the valley and returning with her basket full of fantastic flowers."

"Oh," Katie said. "Well, we don't want to spoil your secret! We'll just go see the stables instead."

There were only two people in the stable they chose: Estel and another. Estel greeted Katie and Vivian warmly, then introduced them to the ellon beside him.

"This is Sadron, one of the chief stable hands."

"Pleased to meet you," Vivian said politely, and Sadron bowed with a friendly smile, but didn't reply.

Vivian, like Katie, had never been around horses much, and was excited to get to see them and pat them. Estel gave her a tour of the stable, and Katie pointed out the horse she usually rode in her lessons with the elves.

"My, you have been busy learning!" Vivian exclaimed, then giggled like a schoolgirl as Serondrych snuffled in her ear.

"Here, Madam," Sadron said at her elbow, holding out an apple. He seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

"Why, thank you, Sadron" Vivian said, and held the apple out to Serondrych, who ate it in two large crunches. "And please," she added, "call me Vivian."

Sadron bowed, and slipped away. Katie watched him depart. "Did he just start working here?" she asked Estel when she was sure he was out of earshot (even sharp elven earshot). "I don't think I've ever seen him before."

"Sadron? Goodness, no," Estel exclaimed. "He has worked in these stables for as long as I can remember. But he a very quiet fellow. Perhaps that is why you have never noticed him before."

"Perhaps," Katie echoed, distractedly.

**TBC**

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* * *

AN:** Well. That chapter was surprisingly hard to write, or else I would've had it out before now. The problem is, I have two storylines moving in this piece, and while I've got one figured out, the other is quite a bit fuzzier. It may take me a little more time in between updates simply because I have to figure out what the heck is going to happen next! 

I got an account on fictionpress dot com for original fiction. I'm only posting one piece at the moment, but I hope to expand a bit. If you'd like to look it up, I'm under the same screen name, **JennyJoy4**.

**Laer4572**: Vivian and _GANDALF?_ Oh, dear. I never imagined Gandalf as the dating type…

**Redone**: Geez, you too? _ELROND?_ I think Celebrían would have something to say about that… lol I think that's more immediate response saying "hook Vivian up with someone" than I had about Katie!

**Arlindor**: Agreed. That'd be a tough decision.

**Madd Hatter**: "A Mysterious Way", as you see. :) I put the title in the author's notes.

**theycallmemary**: And elf with a mohawk… You know, I always _thought_ the elves and the American Indians had a lot in common… lol I shall neither confirm nor deny your theory on Katie's love interest. :) But as always, very happy to see people making predictions!

**Ravens Destiny**: It's very impressive that you could spot the end of the piece from the beginning of the chapter, as I myself didn't even know it was going to be the end when I wrote that bit! Good prediction on Vivian's reappearance. —pictures Elrohir in a top hat— You'll have to send me photos of that costume!

Big thanks also to **RenegadeKitsune**, **crazycatluver**, **werewolflemming**, **IwishChan**, **FallenTruth **and **Hermione at Heart**! I was thrilled to see how many positive reviews I got on that chapter.

**Please review** while I figure out what the heck is going to happen next!


	2. There is no weariness

Mithrandir came in soon afterwards and asked to speak privately with Estel, so Katie and Vivian headed out into the garden.

Vivian kept taking deep breaths through her nose and smiling wildly. "The air is _delicious _here," she commented.

It was indeed. Spring had come, and with it the flowers. They were coming up all around. The two of them passed a number of elves working in the flower beds, who all greeted them cheerfully.

They eventually came to a more secluded part of the garden and sat down on a stone bench. For a few minutes, neither of them spoke. Vivian had her head tilted back and was letting the patchy sunlight fall on her face from between the leaves of the overhanging trees.

"I'm amazed you didn't cry your eyes out when you got sent home the first time," Vivian finally said.

Katie looked at her, confused.

"I'd be so sad to leave this place," Vivian explained. "But I suppose the serenity here would somehow make it easier to leave. It seems to encourage quiet sadness rather than crying fits."

Katie nodded. "I thought when I first came that I would eventually be homesick. But actually, I never was. I'm still not homesick. I mean, yeah, I kinda miss my friends back home, and Mom and Dad, but time just… does funny things here."

"It's probably the presence of elves that does it," Vivian said with a grin. "After all, they're immortal… Barely seem to age after they hit twenty-five or thirty or so…"

"Fifty or a hundred, actually," Katie corrected her.

"Whatever," Vivian said dismissively, waving her hand. Katie grinned. Her grandmother had picked up that particular term from herself and the kids in the youth group. "You know what I mean. They must not change at all, for years and years and years…"

"Centuries… Millennia…"

"While any non-elves they know change so fast and get old and die. I'm actually pretty surprised that they have the number of mortals they do running around here. If I were an elf, I think I'd find it uncomfortable."

"Actually, Grandma, Elrond's part mortal. He and Arwen and the twins aren't full-blooded elves, which is why they look slightly more human."

"Ah. Well, that makes sense. So what are they like? The elves?"

Katie went into raptures. "Oh, they're wonderful! They're really noble, and… and breathtaking, but they're so kind, and nice, and funny! And Grandma—you should hear them _sing_."

Vivian smiled at her granddaughter's enthusiasm. But before she could say anything, a voice spoke up from nearby.

"Do not praise us too highly, or we may become conceited!" It was Erestor, smiling mischievously. "That name has been laid at the door of the elves many times, you know."

"Well, not by me," Katie said firmly. Erestor raised an eyebrow still smiling. "Oh, alright, I might've called _Legolas_ conceited a few times, but he doesn't count."

Erestor and Vivian both laughed, and Erestor turned his attention to the older woman. "I hope you are enjoying the gardens, Madam" he said. When she assented he continued, "The sons of Elrond praise you highly, and Estel as well. They told me of how you assisted Elrohir when he was in your world." Erestor took a seat on one of the benches nearby. "I have many questions I would like to ask you at some point, if I may."

"Oh, no!" Katie exclaimed in mock horror. "It's like the Spanish Inquisition!" She and her grandmother exchanged a mischievously and said at the same time, "_No_body expects the Spanish Inquisition!" then began to laugh.

Erestor looked startled, but amused. "What are you quoting?" he asked.

Vivian reached over and patted his arm in a motherly fashion. "I think it's best that you not know." She laughed again. "Feel free to inquire at any time. In fact, I have some questions for you, as well."

"Oh? What questions?"

"How old are you?" Vivian asked immediately and bluntly.

"Over four thousand," Erestor answered just as immediately, with no surprise.

Vivian whistled between her teeth and Katie's eyes grew round. She knew that Elrond was still older, but the sheer numbers still shocked her.

Her grandmother followed it up with the same question Katie had asked the twins on her own first day in Rivendell. "Don't you get bored?"

"No," Erestor said quite calmly. "Elves do not become bored."

"You don't? Lucky elves," Katie said feelingly.

"No. Sometimes an elf will become world-weary—you saw a bit of that with Elrohir when he was in your own world. But that is not boredom, but rather a heaviness of grief upon the _fëa_—the spirit. For the Elves, though they do not seem to show their emotions as much as Men because they have more control over their bodies, feel things even more deeply. And Elves have great and long memories, and so the griefs of all the centuries they have lived gradually pile upon them. Some die of this sorrow; some sail to Aman, even as Elrond's wife, Celebrían, did.

"But that world-weariness is happily rare—and in fact, Elrohir is the only person I have ever known to have been "cured" of it." He turned solemn eyes on Vivian. "That is part of the reason I wish to talk with you. What you did for him is something that, while we never thought it was impossible, we never expected to have ever seen achieved." He held her eyes for a moment, then continued with the original topic. "But Elves are ever more 'at home' in Arda than are Men. Men call us 'Grown-up children'. They say, 'There is no weariness in the eyes of the Elves'. In fact, I barely understand the word 'boredom'—the Men here have long had a saying, 'Too often seen is seen no longer'. My people have never understood that saying. We wonder much that in the tongues of Men the same word may mean both 'long-known' and 'stale'. Things are constantly new and beautiful to us in a way that they are not to Men."

Katie and Vivian had listened enraptured to this discourse. Katie frowned as if she barely understood the concept, but Vivian's entire expression glowed, as if she recognized something in what he had said, something familiar and well-loved.

Erestor broke the silence and turned the subject a little. "In that way, Elrond and his children are much like the Elves. They neither feel the weariness of many years upon their bodies, nor is the boredom that Men experience laid upon their hearts. Yet in many ways they are like Men, as well. They are both—and they are something entirely new."

000

Katie and Vivian spent most of the day with Erestor. Vivian was able to tell him more about their world than even Katie had, and especially about how it had changed during her sixty-year lifetime. Vivian had just finished explaining about the alliances leading up to the World Wars when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Erestor called, and Elrohir stuck his shorn head around the door.

"Are you going to keep them here all night, Erestor?" he asked playfully. "It is almost time for dinner," he added to their two guests.

"You go on," Erestor said, rising from his chair. "I have a few things to tidy up here, first." Vivian and Katie slipped out into the hall. Elladan, smiling playfully, offered them each an elbow, which they took. All three of them started down the hall. But before they could even begin a conversation, Elladan stepped out of a nearby room.

"Stealing all the pretty young ladies for yourself, are you, Elrohir?" he asked slyly and offered Vivian his arm.

She took it, but added, "Flattery will get you nowhere." He merely grinned in response, then struck up a conversation.

Elrohir and Katie fell a few steps behind them. "How do you feel today?" Katie asked her escort.

"Much better than I did yesterday," he admitted. "It felt good to get out into the sunlight." He paused. "I've never thanked you for your efforts," he said. "_Le hannon, gwathel-nín_."

Katie grinned mischievously. "Are you actually thanking me for being a brat?"

"Yes," he answered with a straight face.

Katie reached over and whapped him lightly on the arm, and he laughed.

000

Mithrandir took a seat beside Vivian at dinner, and they seemed to be getting along quite well indeed. Katie was impressed; she knew she herself probably would've been a little shy sitting next to a wizard. Then again, she realized, she was sitting next to a gorgeous elf-lord, and it didn't seem to be bothering her any.

But the elves had put her so immediately at her ease—while still being a bit unearthly. They inspired respect (_all except Legolas_, she thought with a silent giggle), but were so wonderfully kind! And she knew that they saw her as such a young thing, just a child almost, but it didn't bother her like it might've with other humans. She knew that she really _was_ just a child next to them.

Then again, Estel was her age, and they treated him more like an adult. Well, he really was very grown-up, she admitted to herself. She was inspired with a sudden longing to be more than a cute college kid—but she didn't know how you became more mature.

Instead, she turned her attention to her grandmother. Mithrandir was speaking to her much as to an equal, which rather surprised her. Her grandmother, while obviously much older than herself, was still exceedingly young compared to him, or to any of the elves at the table. (In fact, Katie realized, her grandmother was just about Lithorniel's age.) They just seemed to know she was some kind of a kindred spirit, and treated her as one. Katie shrugged and turned her attention back to her food.

**TBC**

**

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AN:** Erestor's discourse on Elves' apparent incapability for boredom comes largely from Tolkein's _Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth_, from _Morgoth's Ring: the later Silmarillion, Part I_. I'll be drawing a lot of ideas from that piece and from _The Laws and Customs Among the Eldar_ (which may be found in the same volume). So if you want to follow along with this in the canon, that's where you can get it. Erestor's discourse on Elves' apparent incapability for boredom comes largely from Tolkein's , from . I'll be drawing a lot of ideas from that piece and from (which may be found in the same volume). So if you want to follow along with this in the canon, that's where you can get it. 

I've got the basics of the plot figured out now, thanks to suggestions from my mom and my roomie. Who would've guessed Megs had a creative sadistic streak in her? Heh…

**Princess Siara**: It's too bad you can't chat. :( All your questions will be answered in due course! Oh, and thanks for pushing the reviews on that one over two hundred:)

**RavensDestiny**: Mm, yes, foreshadowing is so much fun to write…

**IwishChan**: I'm not sure how _soon_ I'll get around to explaining why Vivian's there, but I promise I _will_ get to it. As for how long Estel stays in the story… Read the first half of the tale of Arwen and Aragorn in Appendix A of _Return of the King_…

**Melisande Mab**: Yay!

**theycallmemary**: What, _another_ one?.! lol I think if Vivian were part Ent, we could tell. The leaves for hair might give it away a bit. :)

**MaddHatter**: Mmm… Not really. :)

**Erasuithiel**: I would love to see if someone figures out what sets Vivian apart before I reveal all. Not that I'll tell you if you're right! lol

**Redone**: Very true. And you see, I used a bit of that in the end of this chapter!

**Darkened Dreams**: lol Yes, yes I am. I'm always plotting something. —grins secretively—

Thanks also to **werewolflemming**, **Fk306** and **FallenTruth**! Wow, 11 reviews on the first chapter!

If anybody's interested, I've also added some more lotr wallpapers to my website. Link's on the bio.

**Please review**!


	3. A Startling Discovery

There was a bit of a surprise at the end of dinner. Elrond stood from his seat, and the hall fell silent.

"You all know Estel, whom I love as my own—Aragorn, son of Arathorn." Estel sat on Elrond's left, and Elrond put his hand on the young man's shoulder. Estel looked lovingly up at him. "Tomorrow he will be taking his leave of us and traveling into the wild, to fight in the cause against the Shadow." There were a few muttered gasps at this, but no one spoke. "May he become as great as his forefathers." Elrond raised his glass. "To Aragorn."

The _ellyn _all rose, and the entire hall raised their glasses. "Aragorn," they said, and toasted him.

After they had all taken their seats again, some conversation resumed. But at the head table, everyone was quiet and subdued. Looking down the table, Katie saw that the twins looked very serious, and Arwen was concentrating a little too intently on her plate.

Katie had obviously picked up on the fact that Aragorn must be another of Estel's names, but it puzzled her why he would have two.

000

The next day saw Estel's departure. Katie knew he said a long farewell to each of the twins and to Arwen, although she didn't witness them. When it came her turn, he gave her a hug.

"I hope to meet you again, Katie Johanson," he said.

Katie forced a smile. "You too. Keep out of trouble, okay?"

Estel smiled back. "Oh-kay."

Katie intended to ask someone about Estel's mysterious other name, but she was a little bit depressed about the whole thing the first day, and she didn't want to ask the twins, and then the whole thing just slipped her mind.

Mithrandir himself left a few days after Estel. "I would have liked to stay and find out more about this Vivian Lewis," he told Elrond, "but I'm afraid I have things to see to, and cannot spare the time at the moment. Do let me know if you ever discover anything about her; I am much interested."

Then he too rode out of Rivendell and headed west.

000

Katie took a walk by herself one morning, leaving her grandmother and Erestor to have a chat in the gardens. She headed down toward the Bruinen.

It was a gorgeous day, with all the accoutrements one would expect in a lovely spring morning. Birdsong, buzzing insects, waving grasses and flowers and the sunlight dancing in patches on the grass as the breeze gently tossed the leaves above.

When Katie came out from under the trees, the sunlight on the grass was so bright she had to squint. But she crossed it anyway, the sun warming the top of her head.

She had let her hair grow out a bit over the months she had been here, and it was now down to about her elbows. Had she been at home, she would have cut it long before this, but the climate was a little milder here, and it wasn't nearly as hot and bothersome as it would've been at this time of year in Pennsylvania.

The river sparked and shone in the bright sunlight, and Katie walked along it for a little way. Then she looked up and spotted Lossefalme coming from the opposite direction with a basket full of flowers so colorful, Katie could see them from here. When the _elleth_ spotted her, she came forward quickly.

"Katie!" she exclaimed when she was within speaking distance. "Come out for a walk?"

"Yep. It's a gorgeous day, isn't it?"

Lossefalme murmured assent, and glanced back the way she had come for a moment. She gave herself a little shake, and she and Katie started back toward the house.

They met Sadron in the stable yard. He bowed to them both with a smile. Katie waved, and Lossefalme said, "Good morning, Sadron."

Sadron's smile slowly faded, and he gave Lossefalme a searching look. But the two girls walked straight on past, barely noticing his expression.

Back in the house, Lossefalme went to arrange the flowers she had cut and Katie headed for Erestor's study.

Vivian and Erestor were chatting away merrily. Vivian appeared to be explaining something about gas prices, and mentioned cars. "Horseless carriages," she clarified.

"Ah, yes, the twins and Estel told me about those," Erestor said. "I take it they weren't too pleased about riding in them at first." He paused. "The fact that the twins and Legolas could travel to your world at all confuses me," he admitted.

"But not Estel?" Katie asked, puzzled.

"No; Estel is human. But elves—we are confined to Arda."

"Arda?" Vivian asked.

"Our world. Middle-earth and Aman," Erestor clarified.

"Planet Earth and the nearest environs," Katie added.

"Ah."

"Men can—and do—leave Arda. But Elves do not. I cannot understand it. How is it even possible that they should have gone to your world?"

When it was obvious that no suggestion was forthcoming, Katie asked a question of her own. "You know, I've been meaning to ask. Why did Elrond start calling Estel 'Aragorn'?"

Erestor smiled. "Because that is his name."

Katie still looked confused, and he continued. "Elrond took Aragorn and his mother in when he was two years old."

Katie nodded. "Arwen told me that."

"Well, Elrond gave him the name Estel and did not tell him about his true identity until this past summer."

"Why?"

"For his own safety. You see—" Erestor paused a moment and regarded her critically. "You know that Estel is descended from Elrond's twin brother Elros, who chose mortality, and that Elros was the first king of Númenor. And I taught you that Númenor sank into the sea."

Katie nodded.

"Well, some of the men of Númenor did not take part in the attack on Aman, and they escaped the destruction. They came here and founded the kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor. Arnor, founded by Elendil, ceased to be a kingdom in the year 1975 of the third age, but Gondor still exists. It was founded by Elendil's sons Isildur and Anarion. It is much smaller now than it was, and the line of kings ended nearly a thousand years ago. But Aragorn is Isildur's heir—heir to the throne of Gondor."

Katie blinked at him. "You mean to tell me Estel is a long-lost king?"

"Yes."

"Oh, my." Katie and Vivian both sat and chewed over that thought for awhile.

"You keep talking about Númenor and Aman," Vivian finally said. "I don't really understand what you mean. Do you have a map that shows them?"

"Certainly," Erestor said, rising and heading over to the bookcase. In a minute he came back with a map and spread it out on the table.

"You see, this large landmass here in the east is Middle-earth. We are here, in Rivendell." He pointed to the land between the two tributaries of the Bruinen. "This landmass to the west is Aman, where the Valar live, which is now removed from the world. And this island here is Númenor, which sank into the sea when the Númenoreans tried to invade Aman."

Vivian frowned, trying to grasp all this. "Think 'Avalon' and 'Atlantis'," Katie advised her.

Erestor looked up sharply. "What did you say?"

"Avalon and Atlantis. Why?"

"How did you know that?"

Katie was entirely confused now. "Know what?"

"Those names!" When Katie showed no sign of understanding him, he continued. "Avallonë is the haven of the Elves on Tol Eressëa; its tower is the first sight one sees of Aman from the Sea. And _Atalantë_ is the Quenya name for Númenor—'the Downfallen'."

Katie and Vivian both blinked at Erestor. "You mean—" Katie said, and stopped.

"You don't suppose—" Vivian began. They exchanged a look.

"_Avalon _is what the Irish called the paradise that lay west across the sea," Vivian explained slowly to Erestor. "And they say that there was once an island called Atlantis in that sea, but the Atlanteans angered the gods, and the gods sank all of Atlantis into the sea thousands and thousands of years ago. That's why it's now called the Atlantic Ocean. But the stories are so incredibly old that hardly anybody believes them anymore."

"No way," Katie said quietly, staring intently at the map.

All three of them were silent for a long minute. "You realize what this means?" Erestor finally said. "You never actually left your world. You only traveled in _time_. The twins and Legolas did _not_ leave Arda. They were in Arda all the while. They only went to a _future_ Arda." He sat down in his chair, looking almost as floored as the two humans before him. "It is no wonder Elrohir saw so much decay around him; he was seeing the world he loved several thousand years older."

Vivian's face split into a huge grin. "Then Avalon and Atlantis really _did_ exist! 'The land of Faerie, where beauty has no ebb, decay no flood!' It's _real!_"

"And that means that is really is true, that the morning and the evening star is both Venus _and_ Ëarendil," Katie said quietly, almost to herself. "It's true. It's all true. I almost can't believe it. Ilúvatar is real, and he did make our world! Well, I obviously rather believed that, but… And the Valar are real! And they really exist in our world!... I think I need to sit down," she concluded.

But she jumped up a moment later. "Grandma!" she exclaimed in shock. "Do realize what this _means?_ Estel is an _Atlantean!_"

**TBC**

**

* * *

AN:** The Council of Elrond and Encyclopedia of Arda are my friends. :) 

**cat:** Oopsie. —smiles nervously— Only the _first _typo you've found? lol

**Princess Siara**: —reads off a prepared statement— I will neither confirm nor deny any theories concerning possible romantic involvements between Katie and/or any other characters. lol

**FallenTruth**: Do let me know when you get that list together!

**Laer4572**: Hate to shoot holes in an interesting theory, but Radagast was still hanging around right before the War of the Ring, as he carried Saruman's message to Gandalf. Also, I really can't imagine a Maia getting married. I mean, sure they've got bodies, but have you ever heard about any of the "married" Valar ever having children? I don't think they reproduce like the "Children of Eru". But good guess! Keep thinking!

Thanks also to **Fk306** and **Renegade Kitsune**!

**Please review**! Oh, and I'd appreciate any feedback I can get on my piece on fictionpress dot com—**hint-hint-nudge-nudge-wink-wink**…


	4. Halls of Mandos

**AN**: A couple of Elvish terms it would be useful to know before you read this chapter:

_fëa_ (plural _fëar_): spirit; as in, the spirit of a person, which allows them to have conscious thought and free will.

_hrondo_ (plural _hrondor_): body; the part of a person that is matter rather than spirit.

_hron_: matter.

* * *

It was very strange for Katie that evening at dinner; every time she looked over at Elrond, she kept thinking, _His brother was the flipping founder of Atlantis!_ It certainly shed a light on how very far back in time they had gone. Erestor had shared their discoveries with the elf lord that afternoon. 

"Does this mean that it wasn't Ilúvatar that sent us?" Katie had asked him. "I mean, you said before the he was the only one with the authority to move people from one world to another. Since it's time travel…"

Elrond had shook his head. "No, it must still be Ilúvatar. Even the Valar experience time in the same way we do, only seeing the present and remembering the past. They are sometimes given visions of the future, but they do not inhabit past, present and future in the way that Ilúvatar does. It must still be His work."

Somehow, that had comforted Katie. It was good to know that she hadn't been operating on false pretences all this time.

000

Elrohir joined Katie and Vivian in Erestor's study the next day.

"You seem to be making some interesting discoveries in here. I would hate to miss it all!" he said by way of explanation. Katie knew that this was only half of his reasoning. He was still rather self-conscious about his hair (or lack thereof), and so was occupying himself inside the house rather than outside of it. But she certainly didn't mind. She enjoyed spending time with Elrohir.

"You said yesterday," Vivian began, addressing Erestor, "that the spirits of Elves are confined to Arda, but that the spirits of Men are not. What do you mean by that?"

"Well, the _fëar_ of both Elves and Men _come_ from beyond Arda, from Ilúvatar. He is the only one able to make us free choosers. The creations of the Valar, which come from within Arda, are not capable of that—mountains and trees and even animals. But beings are free.

"You can see it in the story of the creation of the Dwarves. You see, Aulë the Smith, one of the Valar, was impatient to see the _Eruhin_, the Children of Ilúvatar. Ilúvatar had promised to make them and set them in Arda, but had not yet done so. So Aulë made his own—the Dwarves. And Ilúvatar came to him and rebuked him. The making of beings was beyond Aulë's authority. Ilúvatar had given Aulë his own will only, and the Dwarves could only live by Aulë's will: moving when _he_ moved them, and if Aulë was occupied elsewhere, the Dwarves would stand idle.

"Aulë regretted that he had made the Dwarves without Ilúvatar's permission, and explained that he had only wanted more beings to teach things to and to share his joys with. But he understood that he had done wrong, and so he took up his great hammer to destroy the Dwarves, even while he wept. But the Dwarves flinched in fear and cried for mercy. They were only able to do this because Ilúvatar, in his love for Aulë, had allowed them to become children of his adoption, making them free choosers. So Ilúvatar told Aulë to spare the Dwarves."

Katie and Vivian listened enraptured to this story. Elrohir had heard it told before, and delighted instead in watching their changing expressions.

"So you see, our _fëar_ come from beyond Arda, from Ilúvatar," Erestor summed up. "But different things happen to them when we die.

"When Men die, their spirits go to the Mandos, to the Halls of Waiting, for a short time."

Vivian looked confused. "Where is Mandos?"

"It is a great fortress standing on the western coast of Aman."

Katie, who had learned about Mandos in her Valar lessons added, "Think Hades. And the Vala who is in charge of it gets called by the name of his realm, just like Hades, the Greek god, did. It's kind of a holding-place for the dead."

Erestor continued. "But the spirits of Men leave Mandos—they leave the world. And no one knows where they go to. It is somewhere outside of Arda, but none knows where it is or what it is.

"But the Elves, we are confined within Arda. If we are slain, we are summoned to the Halls of Waiting and dwell there for a time, being corrected by Mandos. And then, if we wish it, some of us are allowed to be reborn."

Katie whistled. She hadn't heard this before. "You get reincarnated?"

Erestor nodded. "Yes, exactly. Let me explain from the beginning.

"Each living being is a combination of spirit and body: _fëa_ and _hrondo_. The _fëa_, as we have seen, comes from beyond Arda. But the _hrondo_ comes from the _hron_, the matter, of Arda. Now these two things, at least in the case of the Elves, were meant never to be separated. But of course, we are sometimes slain, and then the two are severed. But though the _hrondo_ may be destroyed, the _fëa_ may not. And so it is summoned to Mandos. Some refuse the summons, but many do go.

"Now once the _fëa_ of the elf has been corrected in Mandos, it is often given the option of being united with a new _hrondo_, a new body. If the elf agrees, it is reborn in Aman. That is, the _fëa_ is united with a new _hrondo_ of the same sex and is born to Elven parents in Aman."

"But how can you know that's true?" Vivian objected. "Some humans believe in reincarnation in our worl—our _time_, but they say they can't remember their former lives. So they have no proof."

"Ah, but the reborn elves _do_ remember their former life," Erestor said, smiling. "They do not remember it at first, when they are still children, but by the time they are full-grown, they remember all of their former life, and see the two lives as one. So being reborn is a great blessing. Because the elf first had an innocent and carefree childhood in which to discover all the beauty and joy of life, then an adult life, then a death. But to redress the wrongs done to the elf in death, they are reborn and have a second innocent and carefree childhood and discover beauty and joy all over again, and then a second and even wiser adulthood, because they have all the centuries of their former experience to guide them in wisdom. So the reborn are twice blessed."

Katie and Vivian mulled over this for awhile. "I wish I could talk to an elf that had been reborn!" Vivian finally said. "That would be fascinating."

"But they're only reborn into Aman," Katie reminded her. "So there aren't any here."

Erestor and Elrohir exchanged a sly look. "Well, that is true," Elrohir said slowly, "but who says that those in Arda can never come to Middle-earth?"

Vivian's eyes lit up. "_Are_ there any elves in Middle-earth that got reborn?"

"One," Elrohir answered her, smiling mischievously. "You have already met him."

"Who? The suspense is killing me!" Katie exclaimed.

"Glorfindel," Elrohir answered with a laugh.

"You're kidding."

"Glorfindel of Gondolin, who slew the balrog, allowing Tuor and Idril to escape with their son Eärendil," Elrohir elaborated.

Katie managed to connect the other things she knew. "And now the reborn Glorfindel is seneschal to Eärendil's son," she said slowly. "Freaky."

Vivian laughed.

000

In the end, they didn't ask Glorfindel what it was like to be reborn. Katie felt a little shy about it, and it slipped Vivian's mind. Vivian had had a sneaking suspicion anyway that Glorfindel wouldn't be able to explain the experience of death in any way that they could understand anyway.

For the next week or so, Elrohir joined the two of them to take part in Erestor's lessons. Some days they met in Erestor's study, or sat in one of the gardens, or even simply walked about the grounds as they talked.

One day, they stopped in the stable. Vivian had taken to coming here and giving Serondrych a good petting and an apple.

"Where's Sadron?" Katie asked, looking around. Sadron often came out and worked nearby when Vivian entered the stables, occasionally answering a question or bringing her apples or carrots to feed the horses.

"He is probably in the tack room," Elrohir said, and went to look. He returned in a minute. "Sadron is not there," he explained. "He must be at work someplace else."

A few minutes later, his theory was proven when Sadron entered the stable and greeted them in his usual quiet way. "I was turning out some of the horses," he explained.

After they left the stable, Erestor led them on to a place Vivian and Katie had never seen before: the cemetery. Vivian had been telling him how she and her siblings used to go to cemeteries to find their ancestors' gravestones.

Of course, very few elves had died and were buried here in the cemetery at Rivendell, but a few men of Estel's people were, including his mother, Gilraen. On her stone was an inscription, but Katie couldn't read it because it was in Elvish script. Elrohir translated.

"_Ónen i-Estel Edain_," he read. "I gave Hope to the Dúnedain." He did not add the rest of Gilraen's saying, which had not been carved on the stone: "I gave Hope to the Dúnedain, I have kept no hope for myself."

Near Gilraen were the graves of Orain, Gúrvel, and Dorlarth, reminders of the trial Rivendell had undergone just a short while before.

"What's that?" Katie asked, pointing to something on Orain's grave that shone in the sun.

Elrohir stooped and picked the object up. There was a collective gasp as they realized what he was holding.

A knife, the steel glinting in the sunlight. Someone had stuck a knife in Orain's grave.

**TBC**

**

* * *

AN:** Creepy, no? lol 

The story about the creation of the dwarves comes from "Of Aulë and Yavanna" in _The Silmarillion_. Information about elves being reborn comes from _Laws and Customs Among the Eldar_. And I know Glorfindel's rebirth is a contested subject, but I thought I'd put it in anyway.

**AU warning**: the truth is, Gilraen died in Eriador not long before the War of the Ring, so she would still have been living in Rivendell at the time this is set, and would eventually have been buried in Eriador (so the movie's wrong on that count). The thing is, I must not have realized this when I first started writing this fanfiction, or I just left her out because she wasn't convenient. So this is very slightly AU, and if I could, I would go back and fix it. But it's too late now. But the ultimate fate of Gilraen is not important to my plots or themes, so it's not a huge deal.

**AlabrithGaiamoon**: lol I didn't realize Vivian was so popular! She has her own plushie!

**IwishChan**: Yeah, I didn't want to let Estel go, but I had tweaked the story to make him almost an extra year already, and I didn't want to tweak it any more than I had to.

**Laer4572**: Interesting idea! But the millennia in between Arwen and Vivian would be so huge, I doubt very much that any trace of Elvish heritage would still be found in Vivian. Besides, why then would Vivian be human and yet not human, but Katie wouldn't? And besides, they say that Vivian is different even than Aragorn. Keep guessing! And I'm not commenting on the twin thing, although that's very funny. :)

**Redone**: I know! When I realized Estel was Atlantean… Yeah, that was a funny feeling.

**theycallmemary**: I _am_ freaking serious! Isn't that awesome? Tolkein did it on purpose. Check it out in the Encyclopedia of Arda, that's what I used to check my facts. And as far as I'm concerned, Ilúvatar _does _exist. :) Meep! Vivian and _Saruman? _I would hope her taste is better than _that!_ And yes, it is cute. :)

**werewolflemming**: BUT follow only if ye be men of valorrr! Forrr the entrrrance to the cave is guarded by a beast so hideous, so crrrruel, that no man yet has fought with it and lived! —ahem— Sorry 'bout that…

**Princess Siara**: Sorry, not telling. :) You'll have to wait and find out.

**Please review!** You all rock! (I know, I know, flattery will get me nowhere…)


	5. Elf Beards

"What does this mean?" Elrohir said as his father examined the knife. They had all come immediately into the house following the discovery and were now in Elrond's study. "Is this a threat?"

"Looks like a sick joke to me," Katie said.

Erestor shook his head. "No elf in Rivendell would do such a thing."

"And yet, one has," Elrond answered him. "And it could have happened at any point within the last few weeks, I would imagine. People do not often go the cemetery; it could have been there quite some time before you discovered it." He paused. "I will send someone to watch the entrance to the cemetery for a few days and see that this does not happen again. Orain's family need not know of this; it would only cause them grief."

After the interview with Elrond, Erestor went back to his study, and Elrohir walked with Katie and Vivian to the kitchens, where Lossefalme had promised Vivian she would show her a special trick to making bread. They stood back and watched for a few minutes, until the cook came over.

"Are you going to stand there all afternoon and do nothing?" he asked teasingly. "Come with me; I have a job for you."

Katie and Elrohir soon found themselves in another part of the kitchen, chopping vegetables.

"How did we let ourselves get talked into this?" Katie asked as she chopped away at a piece of celery. Elrohir grinned at her in response. Katie frowned. "Where is Elladan, anyway? I expected to see him in your father's study. And Arwen."

"Arwen is visiting with friends, and Elladan has gone out to one of the farms to help with the planting," Elrohir answered, swiftly slicing a carrot.

"The farms? There are farms in Rivendell?"

Elrohir laughed. "Of course! Where do you suppose these vegetables come from? And the flour your grandmother is using to bake bread?"

Katie blinked. "Oh. I guess I'd never thought of that before. You really do have a self-sufficient community here, don't you?"

Elrohir nodded. "The produce from the farms is enough to get the entire settlement through the winters. Estel and Legolas showed you part of the community the first time you came, didn't they?"

Katie nodded. "Yep. Weaver, seamstress, blacksmith, carpenter… The butcher, the baker, the candlestick-maker!" she finished. "I just never thought much about it before." She frowned. "What is your job? You and your brother, and your father, and Erestor…"

"We distribute the resources, make sure the community is well-protected, organize hunting parties, settle minor disputes… And even help out in the farms when they're a few hands short." He smiled again. "I would not be surprised if Elladan swings a scythe this harvest. I might even join him."

His hair would be a little more grown-out by then, Katie thought. He was still embarrassed about it, but he was making strides in the right direction. Even being down here in the bustling kitchens were a good sign. And his walking with them outside the house, of course.

Her mind turned back to the knife in Orain's grave. As far as Katie knew, no one had had any grudge against him. Even Dorlarth hadn't killed him so much out of spite as simply because he could. It didn't make any sense. Why would someone do something so vengeful? The only person she could think of was one of Dorlarth's followers. But all of his elves had either been rehabilitated into the community, or had been exiled. The only two exiles were Delwon and Garaveg, and they were both dead. And that left… nobody. Katie was very puzzled, and she wasn't the only one.

But the mystery was not solved. A guard stood at the entrance to the cemetery for a week, but no one was seen anywhere in the vicinity. Eventually, everyone dismissed it as a freak occurrence, and their thoughts turned elsewhere.

The two elves and two humans continued their daily discussions, sometimes talking about Katie and Vivian's time, and sometimes about Middle-earth. When Vivian discovered that Lithorniel and Glawar were betrothed, Katie was proud that she was able to fill her in on Elvish wedding customs.

Vivian was very interested in the idea that Erestor had put forth that Men's spirits could leave Arda, but not Elves'.

"But if the spirits of Elves are confined to Arda," she said to Erestor one afternoon, "and if Arda is eventually going to end… What will happen to the Elves?"

"No one knows," Erestor said, shaking his head. "Many of us believe that when Arda perishes, our _fëar_ will perish with it, and be no more. On the other hand, some of us hold that since our _fëar_ do not come _from_ Arda but from Ilúvatar, that there is no proof that they will end when Arda does." He shook his head. "I honestly do not know."

"Which one do you believe, then?" Vivian asked.

"I believe that we will perish with Arda," Erestor said calmly. "It is a dark thought, but a possibility that we must face. And then indeed, the gift of Ilúvatar will truly be a gift to Men."

"Gift of Ilúvatar?" Katie asked.

"Death, in the way that humans experience it," Erestor said. "It is held that this was a gift to Men—that mankind would live a short time on Arda, and then die, and their spirits fly out beyond the confines of the world."

"How is that a _gift_?" Katie said. "_I_ certainly don't want to die; I don't think anyone does!"

"No, but for your spirit to fly out beyond the world rather than to disappear when the world ends—would not that be preferable?" Elrohir asked.

"Maybe," Katie said slowly, "but neither one of them is very nice."

They were all quiet for awhile, then Erestor spoke up again. "Part of the reason I believe this, is because before Arda was marred, it would have lasted forever."

"Marred?"

He nodded. "It was marred by Morgoth, corrupted." Katie and Vivian both knew who Morgoth was—the Dark Foe. Vivian referred to him as "The Lucifer of the Valar." "Arda is not now as it once was. There are evil creatures and dark places and deadly diseases that devour whom they will. None of these things would be had not Arda been marred. And so Arda would have lasted forever, and the Elves themselves would never had had to face death at the end of the world." He smiled at Katie. "You see, Elves really are not immortal at all—it is just that our lives are so very much longer than the lives of Men, that we _seem_ immortal. We do age, just differently than men do. For instance, one of the oldest elves in Middle-earth is an _ellon_ by the name of Círdan, the Shipwright. He is unique amongst elves, in that he has a beard."

Katie and Vivian's eyes both widened, and Elrohir had to bite back a laugh, their expressions were so much the same. One could definitely tell they were related.

"A _beard_?" Vivian exclaimed. "I thought elves didn't _have_ beards! Like American Indians!"

Erestor didn't know what American Indians were, but he let it go. "Most of us do not. But Círdan is so old, he has entered a new stage in the lives of the Eldar. And he has grown a beard."

Katie shook her head. "Craziness." She squinted at Elrohir. "I thought you said your grandmother was one of the oldest beings on Middle-earth?"

"The Lady Galadriel?" Erestor interjected.

Elrohir nodded. "She is. But she would not grow a beard; she is _female!_"

Katie and Vivian laughed at that. Erestor nodded sagely, with a twinkle in his eye. "Yes. We will leave the beard-growing to the dwarf-women."

000

The four of them planned to take a picnic lunch down to the Bruinen one day ("_This_ side of the Ford, please!" Katie had exclaimed). The morning of, Katie woke up earlier than usual and couldn't go back to sleep.

She climbed out of bed and opened the curtains. The sun was just beginning to touch everything with a very golden finger as it peeked over the mountains that framed the eastern horizon.

What a lovely day," Katie thought. "Perfect for a picnic."

She got dressed and brushed her hair out, pulling the sides back as all the elves of Rivendell seemed to do. She glanced at herself in the glass and chuckled. "You've been around the elves too long, my dear," she whispered to herself, amused.

Her grandmother, she knew, was probably already awake; she generally awoke well before Katie did. Just in case, Katie opened the door between their rooms veeeery quietly and peeked around it.

Vivian was indeed awake, and was kneeling by the bed, praying. Katie felt very embarrassed, having walked in on her. Vivian looked round and smiled.

"Nearly done, Dear, have a seat!" she gestured to the couch, and Katie sat down very awkwardly and waited silently.

In a minute, her grandmother stood up and stretched. "Gorgeous morning, isn't it?" she said, coming over and taking a seat next to her granddaughter.

Katie nodded. "Perfect for a picnic! I'm just glad that this time it won't culminate in kidnapping," she said feelingly.

Vivian smiled. "I'm very proud of you, you know. You handled the shock very well. Who would've guessed, from the way you react to seeing a spider on the floor, that you would bounce back from such a traumatic experience so quickly!"

Katie laughed, remembering all the times she had let out a blood-curdling screech at seeing a tiny arachnid headed her way. "It's no thanks to me, I think. Or at least, little thanks. Mostly, it's the atmosphere of Rivendell itself. It's very soothing."

Vivian nodded. "It is indeed. Well! Shall we go down and get a little breakfast?"

**TBC**

**

* * *

AN: IwishChan** commented that she was confused on the last chapter. If anybody is confused about the philosophy of Middle-earth (which I admit is pretty darned complicated), please ask! This sequel to the story, part 4, in what I'm intending to make a 6-part series, is pretty much the thematic center of the story, so it's kind of important you understand what's being said. 

**cat**: Thank you! I take that as high praise. :)

**Laer4572**: Nope! Keep trying!

**IwishChan**: Thank you for reminding me; I stuck a bit in this chapter telling where Elladan and Arwen were. :)

**Madd Hatter**: Holy cowS? How many of them are there?

**Princess Siara**: Mad-insane-authoress. I like that. I think I may use that… MIA lol If Vivian were part Atlantean, Katie would be as well. But the special something about Vivian doesn't apply to Katie.

**Ravens Destiny**: Sorry to say, no Legolas in part 4. But I do plan a bit of him in part 5! Well, it's complicated enough without adding an idea of soul, and as you say, they're pretty much close enough to call both soul and spirit _fëa_. In fact, I'd say that the "thoughts, emotions, and memories" reside partly in the body and partly in the spirit, rather than the soul, which is more of a metaphorical concept. For instance, thoughts, emotions and memories all register in the brain, which is part of the body, but are also spiritual. Confusing, huh? Ah, well. Whatever. :)

**theycallmemary**: Well, it makes sense that both "trust" and "hope" should begin with "estel", as the word _estel_ actually means, not so much hope (that's _amdir_) as trust in Ilúvatar—that is, faith. But Tolkein translated it "hope" because it was based less on belief in a statement of Ilúvatar's than trust in his good and loving nature. Oh, and you needn't build him a temple! Just join the nearest Jewish, Christian or Muslim group in your community. :) —puts the sticker on her shirt and eats the cookies— Oh, and (_urp_) I'm not telling you one way or another about Sadron. :)

**werewolflemming**: BONES of thrrrree-fifty men (_spits a bit_) lay strrrrewn about its lairr!

**Darkened Dreams**: Happy birthday! Everybody sing happy birthday! lol

Thanks also to **Fk306**!

You know, there's nothing that brings a smile to my face quicker than a **review** in my inbox!


	6. Note on the Door

Elrohir carried the picnic basket for them through the patchy golden sunlight. Katie observed him out of the corner of her eye. His movements were quite smooth now, with no sign of stiffness or pain. There was no trace of any cuts or bruises on his face. In fact, the only sign that anything had happened to him at all was his hair. And while Katie had a sneaking suspicion that Elves' hair grew a bit faster than humans', Elrohir's was still quite short. The cut across her own cheek was healing quite cleanly, thanks to Elrond's skill with a needle.

They spread the picnic blanket out in the shade by the river. Once again, the cook had outdone himself. There was more than enough food for four people.

"I think Cook believes he is cooking for hobbits," Erestor said, leaning back on one elbow as he savored a bit of desert.

"Do hobbits eat a lot?" Vivian asked.

"Six meals a day when they can get them," he answered lazily.

"In other words, they eat like teenagers," Vivian said, shooting a sly glance over at Katie.

"Teenage _boys_, you mean," Katie corrected her. "I'll have you know, I eat like a bird."

The others laughed. They had seen how much food she had managed to consume.

"Remembering, of course, that birds eat their own body weight daily," she finished.

They heard a noise and glanced back up the hill toward the house. Someone was riding slowly down toward them. As they drew nearer, Katie saw it was Sadron.

"Sadron!" Elrohir hailed him. "Would you like a bite? We have too much food here to finish."

Sadron declined politely. "I already had luncheon."

"Training Bellon, I see?" Erestor said, indicating the horse.

"Yes. I am afraid he can be a bit unruly," Sadron answered, patting the horse's neck.

Katie looked dubiously at the horse. It was standing calmly in one place, lazily swishing its tail. It certainly didn't _look_ unruly… _But then, that's an elf's way with horses_, she thought dismissively.

Sadron looked up the river, and the others followed his glance. Lossefalme was converging on them as she walked along the river before turning to the house. Katie knew it was Lossefalme from the vivid splash of brilliant color that peeked out of her basket. She had been gathering flowers again.

She noticed them a moment later, and continued straight up to them. "We're having a regular party, now!" Vivian exclaimed cheerfully. "We certainly have enough food to feed everyone."

"Care for a bite to eat?" Erestor offered as Lossefalme drew up beside them.

"No, thank you," she said, nodding a greeting to everyone.

Sadron nodded back. "I see you have been picking flowers in your secret place again?" he said with a smile.

Lossefalme nodded and looked back up the river. "Yes," she said quietly.

Katie watched Sadron's expression. It seemed to her that suspicion flashed suddenly across his face, but was immediately suppressed and replaced with thoughtfulness.

"Well, I must get these flowers back up to the house before they wilt," Lossefalme said, bringing herself back to the conversation.

"And I must carry on, or Bellon will become restless," Sadron added. "Farewell."

He and Lossefalme passed one another and headed off in opposite directions, leaving the picnickers sitting comfortably on their blanket, watching them go.

000

When the four of them reached the house again in the afternoon, Erestor suggested they go straight in the door that led to the kitchen, so as to be able to drop off the picnic basket. As they approached the door, Katie realized something small and white was attached to it, fluttering in the gentle breeze.

Erestor frowned and strode up to the door, stared at the small piece of paper stuck there, than pulled it off. As he read it, his expression grew very grim—anger, worry and shock all flashed across his face.

"What is it?" Elrohir asked, catching up to him.

Wordlessly, Erestor passed the note to the young lord of Imladris. Elrohir's eyes widened.

"What?" Katie asked. Elrohir passed the note to her, and she and Vivian leaned over it.

The writing was sloppy and shaky, as if it had been written by someone very old or very ill. Only a few words were legible: _Peredhel… demands for Vilya… You have not… retribution… child!_

"I don't understand," Katie said. "What does this mean?"

"Look closely at the handwriting," Erestor said grimly. "Do you recognize it?"

It was hard to observe the style through all the messiness of the note. Katie squinted at it. Suddenly, the memory hit her: the note they had found on the tray of poisoned cookies, the only one of the series of notes Katie herself had ever seen. The threatening notes written by Dorlarth.

"No way," she whispered.

000

That was pretty much Elrond's reaction when he beheld the note. "There is no way this could be written by Dorlarth," he said. "Unless he wrote it before his death."

"But why would his writing be so unsteady?" Erestor asked. "I rather think it was written by one of his followers, imitating their late leader's writing."

"But all of his followers are either rehabilitated or dead," Katie objected. "Is it possible one of them is only _pretending_ to be sorry? Or were there more of his followers than we knew of? Maybe they're just trying to scare us."

Elrohir shook his head. "But I cannot think what possible motive anyone might have for that."

Elrond had examined the note closely while they spoke. "I believe you must be right, Erestor, that someone else is imitating Dorlarth's writing. There is another style here." He pointed to parts of the writing. "You see, here and here—the line is lighter and more gentle than the hard, straight style Dorlarth preferred."

Katie peeked around Erestor's arm at the note, but could not pick out any difference in the places Elrond pointed at. Erestor, however, nodded.

"Yes. Unfortunately, there is too little of that second style to be able to identify the writer," Erestor agreed.

"We spoke to Cook when we came into the kitchen," Elrohir said. "He said no one had been through that door in a couple of hours, and that he had not noticed a sound of anyone at the door. He had been in the farther part of the kitchen for most of that time. Once again, anyone could have put it there."

Vivian frowned. She had kept quiet all this time, not having been in Rivendell during Dorlarth's little reign of terror. Now she spoke up. "You don't suppose the person who put up the note was the same one who put that knife in Orain's grave?"

The elves looked at one another. "That seems likely," Elrond answered. "Dorlarth is the one who killed Orain. That was, as far as we know, his only murder. Maybe the knife was supposed to be a sign of power, to scare us. To remind us of the horrors Dorlarth was capable of."

"The thing is," Katie said, "if this unrepentant follower of Dorlarth's is trying to scare us, why is he doing it? Like Elrohir said, he's got no motive. That note doesn't make any demands, or at least, none that we can actually _read_. Why write a threatening note if you don't even bother to make it legible?"

The others simply shook their heads. "I do not understand, either," Elrond said quietly.

000

The community had heard about the knife incident, because of the guard at the entrance of the cemetery. Somehow (Katie didn't know how) they found out about the note as well, and Rivendell was buzzing with the news of it all the next day. No one knew what to think. The entire situation was inexplicable.

Everyone talked about it so much that Katie had trouble getting to sleep. Her mind would start asking unanswerable questions and making up wild theories. But every theory led right back in a cycle to the beginning again. There was no solution to the question.

After having done this cycle about five times in a row, Katie heaved a huge sigh and got out of bed. If she was going to be awake, she might as well be doing something. She didn't want to light a lamp, so she walked over to her window and looked out.

One could never get tired of the night sky over Imladris. Tonight the moon was nearly full, and terribly bright. Katie thought to herself that the owls probably slept right through moonlit nights around here, thinking it was still daylight.

Katie loved the way everything looked floodlit in the moonlight. She gazed out over the grounds and the trees, down to the river, and beyond that to the mountains in the distance.

She had been there for some time when a small movement in the shadows caught her eye. She blinked several times and rubbed her eyes, trying to make sure she hadn't fallen asleep or that her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. No, it was still there. Or rather, _they_ were still there.

Two figures stood down by the stables. One was a male elf and the other a female, from what Katie could see of their clothing. It was hard to tell in the dark. She was definitely too far away to hear them; she doubted if even an elf could make out their conversation from this distance. They moved little at first, but as they continued to talk, they both became more agitated, the female in particular. Finally, the _elleth_ wheeled and walked away, back toward the house. The male watched her for a minute, then walked back into the stable.

Katie watched the face of the _elleth_ as she approached, hoping to see who it was. Finally, she caught a glimpse of her face. It was Lossefalme, and she did not look happy.

**TBC**

**

* * *

AN:** I put up a few more wallpapers, if anybody's interested. 

**Princess Siara**: Yes, more history/philosophy of Elves is forthcoming!

**Laer4572**: I can tell you quite definitely, she's not related to any hobbits. :) Besides, don't you think if that were the case, that the Elves would be able to identify a part-hobbit?

**IwishChan**: I know! —imagines Elrohir chopping vegetables— Mmmm…

**RenegadeKitsune**: Yay! Sn!

**Ravens Destiny**: Please don't die of shock. lol Well I couldn't very well attack them at two picnics in a row, now could I? Then I'd be making a pattern. And I don't want patterns like that; I'd rather keep you all on your toes. :)

**MaddHatter**: I'm afraid the address didn't come through on the review. I think you'll have to email me!

**EresseElrondiel**: It would be fascinating, wouldn't it? There's a plotbunny for anybody who needs one!

**Darkened Dreams**: You _do_ have a twisted mind… Terrifying thing is, I'd already thought of that. lol Well, they _did_ say Galadriel was kind of a manly woman…

**werewolflemming**: No insects! I hate bugs. I wouldn't do that to Katie. As we already know, she hates spiders.

Thanks also to **Fk306**!

**Please review!** I'm enjoying hearing all your theories!


	7. Fallen Man

Katie went back to bed and slept soon after that, but the memory of the sight came back to her several times over the course of the next few days. She was beginning to have a vague suspicion of Sadron. But she didn't want to be right. Sadron was always very nice to them when they came in the stables. But then, Dorlarth had been very nice, too. They had rounded up all of Dorlarth's followers, hadn't they? But maybe they had missed a few; Dorlarth alone knew who all of his followers were. And, Katie remembered, Sadron had been absent from the stables right before they found the knife in Orain's grave. But, she reminded herself, it could've been place there by anyone at any time. Sadron could have put the note on the door of the kitchen before he rode down to the river—but then, so could anyone else. And that argument with Lossefalme—had she perhaps guessed it was him, and he threatened her not to tell anyone…

_Stop it_, Katie told herself. _This is just silly. That conversation could have been about anything. Heck, it could've even been a lovers' spat!_ She put her suspicions firmly from her mind.

It wasn't hard to forget about it. Erestor and Vivian had begun to engage in very philosophical discussions, which Elrohir and Katie listened to with interest. Now that Katie knew Middle-earth and modern earth were the same thing, she began to take everything she learned and apply it more to herself and the world she was familiar with. It had opened entirely new areas of thought for her.

For instance, this idea of an afterlife, and the question of where Men's _fëar_ went when they died. She had heard about heaven plenty of times when she went to church with her grandma as a kid. She had even hung out with the youth group for awhile, and particularly enjoyed when Vivian hosted parties for them. But everything they said was kind of too familiar to really sink your teeth into. This was different.

Vivian made a comment one day that Katie found particularly intriguing. "Men and Elves," she said, "must be almost the same thing, biologically."

"What do you mean?" Katie asked. "We can't be. Men are mortal, Elves are immortal…"

Erestor and Elrohir did not seem entirely surprised, and watched this exchange.

"Well, but think about it, Kate," Vivian explained. "In history, Men and Elves have intermarried and produced offspring. And that offspring has been able to reproduce as well." (Elrohir grinned.) "So biologically, Elves and Men must be the same species."

Katie opened her mouth, then shut it again. She couldn't argue with Vivian's logic.

Erestor was nodding. "Men are our nearest kin. We are closer in _hrondo _and _fëa_ than any other creatures in Arda."

"So if we're the same species, how come we're so different?" Katie had to ask.

"Well, one of the reasons is that Elves have greater mental control over our bodies," Elrohir explained. "That is why we do not get ill as Men do. We are able to fight off diseases and heal from injuries much faster." Katie noticed that his hand went unconsciously to his side, over his mending ribs.

"That's also why you're more coordinated and stronger," Vivian suggested.

Erestor nodded again. "Yes, although when our kindreds were both young, Elves and Men were much the same in strength and speed. But our minds, our _fëar_, have slowly begun almost to consume our bodies so that we gain greater control."

"Well, but if that's true, and we're the same species, then why don't we get better and better control too?" Katie asked.

Erestor looked thoughtful. "It was once said that something happened to Men in their youngest days, before they had contact with Elves, and that it changed them. Men are much more easily corrupted than Elves, you are mortal and we are not, and you have less wisdom and skill and beauty. Some say that Men and Elves were always different, both in _hrondo_ and _fëa_, but some hold that we were once much more alike." When he saw that they were interested in the subject, and Vivian in particular, Erestor went to his bookshelves and took down a volume.

"There is a story called _Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth_, or 'The Debate of Finrod and Andreth'," he said, flipping through the pages. "Finrod was an elf and Andreth a mortal woman—a wise-woman—and they were interested in just these questions. Ah, here we are," he said, and began to read.

"'_Yet among my people,' said Andreth, ' from Wise unto Wise out of the darkness, comes the voice saying that Men are not now as they were, nor as their true nature was in the beginning… They say plainly that Men are _not_ by nature short-lived, but have become so through the malice of the Lord of the Darkness whom they do not name.'_

"Finrod asserts that since Arda is marred, nothing is as it should be, and even Elves are not as strong as they were originally meant to be. But Andreth tells him that he does not understand her words. _'The wise among Men say: "We were not made for death, nor born ever to die; Death was imposed upon us."'_

"That's just freaky," Katie said plainly, and the others chuckled. "I mean…" she struggled to find the words for it. "If we lived forever, we would be _so bored_! It's okay for Elves; you don't get bored. But we would."

"That is what Finrod says, if I recall correctly," Elrohir told her.

"Really?"

Erestor paged through a bit. "Yes, here we are. Finrod says that then Men would have had imperishable bodies, but their bodies would not have been in harmony with their spirits, and that harmony is essential to both Elves and Men. The spirits of Elves love the beauty of Arda and are never tired of it, but Men see things differently. '_Do you know that the Eldar say of Men that they look at no thing for itself; that if they study it, it is to discover something else; that if they love it, it is only (so it seems) because it reminds them of some other dearer thing? Yet with what is this comparison? Where are these other things?... Whence comes this memory that ye have with you, even before ye begin to learn?'_"

Katie glanced over at her grandmother. Vivian's eyes were shining as if with unshed tears, and she was absolutely beaming. "Finrod got it right," she said quietly. "Truer words were never spoken." She turned to Katie. "Haven't you ever felt it? Haven't you looked at something, and it was just so beautiful, and all of a sudden you felt—almost homesick, even though you knew you were homesick for a place you've never been?"

Katie frowned. Her grandmother's words struck a chord in her. When she had been in about seventh and eighth grade, she had often had that feeling, and had looked for it and reveled in it. She had forgotten about it lately, but she remembered now. Oh, she remembered.

Erestor read quietly, "'_You speak strange words, Finrod,' said Andreth, 'which I have not heard before. Yet my heart is stirred as if by some truth that it recognizes even if it does not understand it.'"_

Katie shook herself, as if she'd been under a trance. "So what does that have to do with our spirits and our bodies not being in harmony?" she asked.

"Well, Finrod says he thinks that unrest was always there, even if the Shadow that marred Arda made it worse. So Man's _fëa_ would always be wanting to leave Arda, which was not its home, and then death would be a good thing. It would be going home!"

Vivian shook her head. "But then the body and the spirit still aren't in harmony, because that's disregarding the body."

Elrohir laughed. "I do believe you must have studied this debate before! For so Andreth says."

Sure enough, Erestor read, _"'Nay, I do not believe this, said Andreth. 'For that would be contempt of the body… For were it "natural" for the body to be abandoned and die, but "natural" for the _fëa_ to live on, then there would indeed be a disharmony in Man, and his parts would not be united by love. His body would be a hindrance at best, or a chain.'"_

"I definitely understand _that_," Katie said. "That's what happens now—the body dies and the spirit lives on. And I _hate_ my body."

Erestor and Elrohir looked at her in surprise, but Vivian nodded. "What teenage girl doesn't?" she said with an understanding smile.

"But now I'm confused," Katie continued. "So we're screwed up because our spirits want to go someplace else, but our bodies and they're not supposed to… So what on earth were we _supposed_ to be like?"

"'_Then this must surely follow:_'" Erestor read, "_'the _fëa_ when it departs must take with it the hrondo. And what can this mean unless it be that the _fëa_ shall have the power to uplift the _hrondo_, as its eternal spouse and companion, into an endurance everlasting beyond Ëa and beyond Time?'"_

Vivian had an inscrutable look on her face, but Katie just shook her head. "That sounds _insane_," she said flatly. She had a sudden mental image of a picture that had hung in her Sunday school classroom when she was a kid, of Jesus floating in midair with all these clouds, and some disciplines on a hill beneath him, kneeling and looking up at him. "That's impossible," she repeated.

Vivian said nothing.

000

Elladan returned from the farms a few days later. Katie happened to be with Lithorniel in the hall when he came striding in.

"Good morning, Lithorniel; good morning Katie!" he said cheerfully, putting one hand on top of her head. "Have you kept Erestor on his toes?"

Katie swatted him off good-naturedly. "Grandma has. I'm not even sure I _understand_ some of the stuff they talk about."

"You grandmother is a very unique person," Elladan said, watching Katie carefully.

"You can say that again!" Katie answered with a grin, not understanding his true meaning. "Well, it's nearly lunchtime; if you want to eat with the rest of us, I suggest you change!"

Elladan smiled. "Are you saying I am not presentable?"

"Weeelll…" Katie made a big show of hesitancy. "Your clothes do rather smell of horse."

Elladan laughed. "You are getting far too familiar with us, _gwathel-nín_!" he teased.

**TBC**

**

* * *

AN:** Well, I meant to get to a bit more action in this chapter, but the philosophy went on so long, I didn't have room. You'll have to wait for the next installment. 

I hope everybody could follow that philosophy. If you couldn't, please ask! It's actually important to the plot, believe it or not.

**IwishChan**: Well, I probably won't have Elladan chopping vegetables, but he's been planting little things! Does that count?

**Neassa**: I try. :)

**cat**: —grins— I will neither confirm nor deny your theory until such time as the answer is revealed in the narrative.

**Princess Siara**: I will tell you that the guy Lossefalme was talking to was Sadron.

**Ravens Destiny**: What, they're poppies or something? lol

**Darkened Dreams**: No comment

**Madd Hatter**: So you're not the Madd Hatter who has an account on ff dot net? Well, my email address is lunashau at hotmail dot com.

Thanks also to **werewolflemming** and **Fk306**!

**Please review** and let me know how you're getting on with the philosophy!


	8. A Second Note

Everyone greeted Elladan merrily as they sat down to lunch. He had taken Katie's advice and changed into less travel-worn clothing.

"Has anything exciting happened while I've been away?" he asked as the meal was winding down. He obviously expected an answer in the negative and was surprised when Elrond said, "Yes."

"Oh? What?"

"We found a knife in Orain's grave," Erestor said grimly.

"_What?_"

"Yes. And then a note was discovered on the kitchen door a week later," Elrond added. "I will show it to you when we have finished eating."

When luncheon was over, Elladan, Erestor and Elrond closeted themselves in Elrond's study while Elladan examined the note. When they had exchanged opinions on it, Elladan sat back and regarded it thoughtfully.

"This is very strange," he said finally. "Could the writer have had some purpose in leaving part of it illegible?"

"If he did, we have no hint as to what that purpose was," Erestor answered, "nor to the identity of our culprit."

"It is a demand notice like those Dorlarth sent, but makes no demands: at least, none that we can make out. And that seems pointless in the extreme. I would guess that someone is simply trying to intimidate us, although for what purpose, I could not say."

"Well, they have failed, then: we are not intimidated," Elladan said firmly, placing the note back on his father's desk.

000

He and Erestor found Katie, Vivian, and Elrohir sitting on a balcony overlooking the valley. Trailing vines had wound themselves along the stonework, and they sat amidst a riot of blooms and greenery.

"The three of you would make a lovely painting," Elladan commented as he and Erestor joined them. "Erestor tells me you have been spending a good deal of time together lately."

Katie nodded. "We've been hanging out a lot," she agreed. The elves smiled at her use of language.

"I have a question for you, Erestor," Vivian asked. "Or rather, two questions."

Erestor waited expectantly.

"First: you said that only some Elves are reborn after entering Mandos. What happens to the rest? And secondly, what did you mean by Elves' _fëar_ consuming their bodies?"

"The first is easy to answer," Erestor said. "They simply remain in Mandos. Those that did evil in life are sometimes kept there for a long time, or are not allowed to be reborn at all. Also, some Elves give up hope and willingly cause their _fëar_ to leave their bodies, and many of these do not desire to return. They stay in the Halls of Waiting until such time as Arda perishes.

"The second is harder to answer. It is believed that when the time of the Elves on Middle-earth has passed, that many of those who remain will fade. Their bodies will become more of a memory than a physical thing, and then they will be _fëar_ alone, existing on Middle-earth but unable to affect anything that happens here. They will, perhaps, be sensed directly by other _fëar_, but will no longer be visible to the eye.

"But it seems to me that these faded Elves will be much like houseless spirits, and may perhaps be feared as such." When Vivian and Katie did not seem to understand him, he explained. "The _fëar_ of Elves are summoned to Mandos; they are not forced. Sometimes, an Elf's spirit may refuse the summons, and will wander houseless in the world, because it is unwilling to leave it but cannot inhabit. It may haunt trees or springs or hidden places that it once knew."

"Ohh," Katie said. "We call them 'ghosts'. But I've never head of faded Elves."

"Sure you have," Vivian said, leaning back comfortably. "You've heard of people who claim to have seen fairies, or communed with Elves. Iceland appears to be full of them."

"You mean—you think that the fairies and elves some people believe still exist are faded Elves that never left Middle-earth?" Vivian nodded. "Wow," Katie said, "I wonder what they think of the modern world? Imagine it: elves in Manhattan!"

Vivian grinned at the idea. "Some mediums in our time claim to communicate with elves," she told Erestor and the twins. "I think a good number of them are charlatans. But I'm not wild about mediums, anyway."

"Why not?" Elrohir asked.

"Because they claim to speak to ghosts as well," Vivian said, "and I think that's not a good thing to do."

"No, it is not," Erestor said emphatically. "The refusal of the summons to Mandos is a sign of the taint of the Shadow, and many houseless spirits are unkindly. It is not a wise thing to try to commune with them. In fact, the Valar forbid it. The most tainted among the Houseless are those that most desire to communicate with the living. They follow in the footsteps of Morgoth and attempt to lie and deceive. And some of the Houseless wish still to have effect on the living world. To do that, they need bodies. Only the Elves that go to Mandos and are corrected by him and then allowed to be reborn are allowed to inhabit bodies, but some of the Houseless try to take bodies unlawfully. So those that commune with them are not only in peril of being deluded by fantasies or lies, but the Houseless that they communicate with may forcibly try to eject the _fëa_ from its body and take it over, or plead for shelter and then seek to enslave its host and use both his will and his body for its own purposes.

"So," he concluded, "if, in your own time, you ever think you may be communicating with a faded Elf, it would be best to first deduce whether it is a faded Elf or a houseless spirit you are speaking to."

"How can you do that?" Katie asked. "You said yourself they're a lot alike."

"That is simple," Elladan answered. "Any spirit that speaks against the Valar or even, if it dares, against Ilúvatar, is evil and should be shunned."

000

That evening, Elladan went with Vivian and Katie to the stables. As usual, Sadron greeted them, then went to fetch apples for them to feed to the horses. He came back with two.

"I am afraid this is all we have left," he said apologetically. "Our stores have gone down since you began to visit the stables."

Vivian laughed. "We do rather use up your apples, don't we? Sorry about that."

Sadron shook his head. "The horses are always very glad to see you coming," he answered with a small smile.

When they left the stable, Sadron went with them in order to fetch a new bag of apples from the kitchen. The kitchen door itself was the closest to the stables, so they all headed in that direction. When Katie spotted the door, she stopped in her tracks, almost causing her grandmother to run into her.

"We need to get you some brake lights for Christmas," Vivian said ruefully. "What's the matter?"

"Look at the door," Katie answered in a heavy voice.

They all looked. There was a small white note fluttering on it.

"Oh, not _again_," Vivian muttered.

Elrohir pulled the note off with an angry gesture. "It is indeed another one," he said, and pulled the door open with (Katie thought) and unnecessary amount of force.

They hurried to follow him through to the kitchen. Once there, he brandished the note. "Did anyone hear someone put this note on the door?" he asked to the kitchen workers at large.

Everyone began to murmur answers in the negative. Katie watched Lossefalme look up at the note, then glance at Sadron. He looked back at her warningly, and she seemed to go a little white, then turned away from him. Katie thought she looked almost frightened.

Vivian and Katie followed Elladan up to his father's study. Sadron simply collected the things he had come for and returned to the stables. Katie's mind buzzed with suspicion, but she forced it down until she had heard Elrond's reaction to the note.

"It seems much the same as the last," Elrond said when he had read the slip of paper his son had given him. "A few legible words, in what looks mostly to be Dorlarth's hand, interspersed with unreadable pen strokes in which Dorlarth's style is mixed with another. _You… my revenge…_" he read, "_your sons… as I… rue… protect them._ Incomprehensible," he summed up.

000

Katie had another sleepless evening. She was even more suspicious now. The male elven figure that she had seen disappear into the stable after speaking with Lossefalme that night must've been Sadron. Maybe Sadron had been one of Dorlarth's followers, but no one knew it. And maybe he was trying to intimidate Elrond and his family, or was plotting something against them. Perhaps Lossefalme had guessed it was him or caught him at it, and he was threatening her to keep her silence!

Katie shook herself. She had no reason to suspect Sadron, who had always been nothing but polite to her and her grandmother. And Estel said they had all known Sadron for a long time and trusted him.

But then, they had known and trusted Dorlarth for a long time too.

_You're going in circles again,_ she told herself. _You're going to feel bad if you accuse him and then you're wrong._

Accuse him. Should she? Her mind turned again to the thing that had been bothering her ever since she had used the bandits' marker to save Rivendell. Why was she still here, and why was her grandmother here? What was their purpose in Middle-earth this time? There must be one. Maybe she was supposed to figure out who the culprit was in this series of nasty occurrences. In that case, she should tell Elrond about her suspicions. But maybe that wasn't it at all. And if she was just supposed to figure out the culprit on her own, what was her grandmother there for?

She eventually fell asleep, still filled with indecision, and dreamed that she woke up and her room was full of little slips of white paper, with words written on them that, try as she might, she couldn't read.

**TBC**

**

* * *

AN:** Information on the fading of elves and houseless _fëar_ comes from "Laws and Customs Among the Eldar"—some of it quoted almost word-for-word. I forgot to mention on the last chapter: In "Laws and Customs", the word for body is _hrondo_, but in the _Athrabeth_, it's _hroa_. So when Erestor is reading the _Athrabeth_, I substituted _hrondo_ for _hroa_ so as not to confuse anybody. _Hroa_ may actually be the more correct term, but oh well. 

**RenegadeKitsune**: Actually you _did_ spell philosophical correctly—good job!

**Princess Siara**: Yes, I noticed that when I was reading your review and had to smile a little.

**Erasuithiel**: Yes, I had a bit of a fascination with Atlantis in eighth grade—that, and the Seven Wonders of the World. I can name them all if I think for a bit… "Large wooden badger"—lol!

**EresseElrondiel**: I'm very sorry; I don't know how I missed you! Well, thank you anyway! —huggles disgruntled reviewer—

**IwishChan**: _Sweaty_ horses? Not pleasant.

**Redone**: That's what I thought! I love the _Athrabeth_.

**MaddHatter**: "Gondor has no pants… Gondor needs no pants!" —laughs loudly—

**Please review** with all your happy little theories!


	9. A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse

The sight of the fresh flowers in her room reminded Katie of her dilemma when she awoke the next morning. She pulled on some clothes and brushed out her hair, then rapped softly on her grandmother's door.

"Come in," Vivian called. "Good morning!" she said when Katie walked in.

"Morning," Katie answered and took a chair.

Vivian looked closely at her. "What's wrong? You've got something on your mind."

"You're psychic," she said, smiling.

"Doesn't take a psychic to read your face, just your mind," her grandmother answered. "Come on, spill the beans."

"Well…" she tried to think of how to say it. "I kinda suspect a certain person of putting up those notes," she finally said.

Vivian took a seat, not looking at all surprised. "Do you have proof?" she asked.

"Well, no. Not really," Katie answered truthfully. "It's all circumstantial. Do you think I should tell Elrond about it? I mean, if I end up being wrong, I'm gonna feel really bad for accusing this person."

"That's hard to say," Vivian answered. "All I can tell you is, if you get to the point where you examine all the evidence and decide it's more likely than not that the person is guilty, then tell, and let Lord Elrond deal with it."

"Okay," Katie said, nodding slowly. "I'll think about it some more, then." She paused. "You see, I was thinking… Maybe the reason the two of us are here is so we can catch the person who's doing this. You know, maybe that's why Ilúvatar kept me here and sent you, as well."

Vivian shrugged and smiled, then quoted her accustomed phrase. "Who knows? God works in a mysterious way."

In the end, Katie decided not to talk to Elrond about it. Everything she had seen could have had another cause. It might not even have been Sadron that she saw talking to Lossefalme. If it was, they could've been talking about anything. The looks she thought she saw them exchange could just have meant that Lossefalme was a little frightened by the situation, and Sadrom maybe suspected that she had heard someone at the door. It might've just meant nothing. Anyway, she was not even half sure of her conclusions, so she was going to keep her mouth shut.

000

Despite her dismissal of it earlier, Katie was still fascinated by the idea that humans used to be different than they now were, and she resolved to ask Erestor more about it. Elladan was busy with Elrond one day, and so the usual four met on the east terrace. Erestor had brought the _Athrabeth_ with him, since it seemed to come up so often in conversation.

"So Erestor," Katie began, "if Men aren't now as they once were, what were we like? I mean, what with the whole 'I'm leaving Arda, and I'm taking my body with me!' thing."

The other three laughed. "Well, as we've seen, the people of Andreth and Adanel her teacher believed that men were once made to live completely immortal lives, with no death whatsoever. In fact, Andreth said that many of the Wise held that in their true nature, _no_ living things would die.

"Be that as it may, Men in their original form did not die. And you would have had greater control over your bodies, as Elves do. Furthermore, Finrod held that human spirits were always meant to eventually leave the circles of the world, but that originally they must have taken their bodies with them. In the _Ainulindalë_ it says, _Death is the fate of Men, the gift of Ilúvatar, which as Time wears even the Valar shall envy. But Morgoth has cast his shadow upon it, and confounded it with darkness, and brought forth evil out of good, and fear out of hope._ So originally it was a great and wonderful thing for the spirit to leave the circles of the world, for it took the body with it. But now Men's spirits only leave when they have been forcefully severed from their bodies. That is what death has become."

"But how could we have changed like that? What happened that made us like we are now?" Katie wanted to know.

"Andreth would not say," Elrohir told her. "She told Finrod only that it was through the malice of the Lord of Darkness—that is, Morgoth."

Erestor paged through the book. "Finrod did not believe it could have been quite as she said: that Morgoth had not the power to rob an entire race of their inheritance of immortality, in spite of Ilúvatar. _'To doom the deathless to death, from father unto son, and yet to leave to them the memory of an inheritance taken away, and the desire for what is lost: could the Morgoth do this? No, I say. None could have done this save Ilúvatar. Therefore I say to you, Andreth, what did ye do, ye Men, long ago in the dark? How did ye anger Eru?'_

When he stopped reading, Vivian leaned forward. "What did she tell him?"

"She told him nothing," Erestor answered. "She said that the accounts were confused and had become more legend than pure fact—because Men had _tried_ to forget. Furthermore, she said that Men would not speak of it to people of the other races."

Vivian nodded in understanding, and Erestor regarded her with curiosity. "Do _you_ know, _Saelon_?"

"I know a story of the Fall of Man, yes. But as Andreth said, it has become patchy and symbolic. If you want to know, here are the basic facts. Ilúvatar told humans there was one thing they were not to do. And Morgoth tempted the humans to do it, and they gave in to temptation and disobeyed Ilúvatar. They tried to blame it on one another, and they tried to blame it on Morgoth, who had after all tempted them, but in the end the decision had been their own. And so Ilúvatar took away their immortality because humans had become corrupt and had fallen into the Shadow. And," she indicated herself and Katie, "now you see what we have become, compared to an unfallen race." She indicated Erestor and Elrohir. "We have fallen, indeed."

They were all silent for a time, contemplating this. Then they were interrupted by the call to a meal, and had to leave the rest of the conversation for another time.

000

One morning, there was a rap on Katie's door. It was Elrohir.

"My brother and I are going to have luncheon privately in our sitting room, and we wondered if you and Vivian would care to join us?" he asked courteously.

"Sure," Katie said immediately. "Thank you!"

Vivian agreed as well, and so noontime found all four of them sitting around a table set with delicious-looking viands.

Katie always enjoyed watching the twins interact. They were so close to one another, that watching them gave her warm fuzzies—as she liked to say. The two of them also had a great affection and respect for her grandmother. She liked to tease them, and they would respond in kind, but always there was the feeling that they held her in very high regard.

And of course, Katie herself simply adored the twins—her _gwedyr_, as she now frequently called them. They were the big brothers she never had, and fantastic friends, to boot.

She realized that in a strange way, Rivendell was beginning to feel more like home than home was. She loved her family and friends at home, of course, but there was something wonderful about Rivendell, beyond its beauty, that almost made her wish she would never have to leave it. The Last Homely House was a very good title for it, indeed.

"How are you enjoying your stay in Rivendell?" Elladan asked Vivian.

"Very much," she answered emphatically. "It's gorgeous. Ever since Katie told me about it, I wanted to see it. I'm just glad I got a chance. And now I'm sitting here eating with the Boanerges!"

"Boanerges?" Elrohir asked, bemused.

"The Sons of Thunder!" Vivian declared dramatically.

"No, no, Grandma. His name is _Elrond_. Sons of _Elrond_," Katie explained slowly. They all laughed.

"But Sons of Thunder is more dramatic!" Vivian complained.

"Here, one of the servants must have brought this in when I was out of the room," Elladan said, fetching a bottle of wine from nearby. "Would any of you like some?"

Neither Katie nor her grandmother were terribly fond of alcohol, and Elrohir declined, so Elladan poured himself a glass.

"Are you planning to help with the harvest this year, as well?" Elrohir asked him as Elladan tried a sip.

"Probably," he answered.

Vivian grinned. "I'm imagining you swinging a scythe," she said. "I bet the fields are gorgeous when they turn gold."

"They are indeed," Elladan agreed. "Elrohir and I used to help on the farms quite a bit when we were young."

"You still look young to _me_," Vivian said in a teasing grumble.

Elladan put down his glass with a funny look on his face. He put a hand to his side.

"Elladan?" Elrohir said in concern. "Are you unwell?"

Elladan swallowed hard and nodded. "I think… there was something in the wine," he said. In a moment, he doubled over with a groan.

The others jumped up in alarm as he slid off his chair onto the floor. His face had gone white as parchment and he writhed in pain, biting back a cry.

"Katie! Go get our father!" Elrohir commanded as he dropped to his knees next to his brother.

Katie's mind whirred as she watched her grandmother kneel on the elf's other side while Elrohir felt his pulse. Maybe it was Sadron after all, and she was supposed to tell Elrond and she didn't, and now maybe Elladan was going to die…

Vivian looked up and saw Katie frozen in place. "Katie!" she said loudly. Katie looked at her with wide eyes.

"Go get Lord Elrond!" Vivian repeated urgently and emphatically. Katie turned and ran for the elf lord's study.

**TBC**

**

* * *

AN:** I know, cliffie. I hate to do this to you, but I'm going to camp on the eighth, and I won't be back until either the eleventh or the fifteenth, depending. So you'll have to wait a bit for the next part. Sorry to keep you in suspense! 

**Princess Siara**: Faded elves do not desire bodies, and if they appear to people, they appear in what looks like a bodily form. Only the Houseless desire bodies. And they're pretty nasty, anyway.

**Fk306**: Yes, I copied off the _Athrabeth_ and took a highlighter and a pen to it. Yeah, if Katie did accuse Sadron and he turned out to be innocent, that would be bad. But then, if he's guilty and she doesn't voice her suspicions, that could be very bad as well. Bit of a dilemma for the poor girl.

**IwishChan**: Well, it isn't prophetic or anything. It's just that she's feeling rather anxious and clueless about the whole situation, and that's how her subconscious rendered those in her dreams, mixed in with the images of her day.

**EresseElrondiel**: Of course! You can always get a hug from either of the twins—or Legolas or Estel, for that matter.

**Ravens Destiny**: Sorry, bad joke. You should hear me in real life… Yes, no dead mangled elves is definitely a good thing.

**theycallmemary**: Sometimes when I say I'm not confirming anything, it does indeed mean you're right. And sometimes it just means what it says, that I'm not telling you anything. So you really can't interpret that response as an automatic yes. I'm horrible, aren't I? lol As for the Ilúvatar thing, Tolkein was a Christian—Catholic, specifically. His mythology of Arda is based on a mixture of his beliefs and the mythologies he liked so much. You'll find a lot of parallels between Tolkein stuff and Norse mythology, for instance. So Ilúvatar (the All-Father, which was also a title for Odin) or Eru (The One) is what Tolkein called God in his work. So Ilúvatar is worshiped by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. More on that later. As for Círdan, the Encyclopedia of Arda says that it's unknown how old he is, but that it's possible he was one of the Elves awaked in Cuiviénen—that is, he was one of the very first Elves ever created. So he's _old_. Like, _really_ old. I doubt very much that Elves shrink, and since Círdan is the only elf we know of old enough to have a beard, we can't really guess what they look like when they're older than him. Galadriel, on the other hand, was born in Valinor before the rising of the sun, so she's pretty darned old. And interesting point to consider also, is that Gandalf is a Maia, so his spirit existed before the creation of the world. But he only took on a body in the third age, so in one sense, he's about 2500 years younger than Elrond. Weird, huh? Katie doesn't ask Lossefalme because she doesn't want to butt in if it's something else entirely. And I don't think she has the knowledge or the supplies to dust for fingerprints. Thanks for pointing out the bit with Orain-Sadron; I'll fix that. Wow, that was a long response…

**werewolflemming**: Good advice; she already has. :)

Thanks, everybody! **Please review** and I'll get to work so I can post as soon as I get back from camp!


	10. And Thou Beside Me

Elrohir felt for Elladan's pulse. It was far too fast; his heart was racing.

Elladan groaned and squeezed his eyes shut, wrapping his arms around his stomach and curling up on the floor. Elrohir put his hand on his brother's cheek, exerting as much healing power as he could.

"Father will be here soon," he murmured. Elladan made no sign of hearing him. His chest was heaving and a cold sweat had broken out on his forehead.He seemed to be having trouble breathing, and the muscles of his back and neck were spasming. Elrohir and Vivian exchanged a frightened glance.

000

Katie pounded down the corridors as fast as her feet could carry her, skidding around corners and hoping she wouldn't run headlong into anyone.

She slid to a stop and rapped urgently on Elrond's door. Elrond himself opened it and looked down at her in some surprise.

"What is it? What is wrong?" he asked.

Katie tried to catch her breath. "It's Elladan. He's been poisoned!"

Elrond turned a little white, but beckoned her to follow him into the next room, where some of his medical supplies were. "What are his symptoms?"

Katie fought down her panic. "He—he's kind of rolling on the floor; I think he must have stomach pains. His face is really white…"

Elrond began to pull bottles off a shelf. "How much of the poison did he ingest?" he asked.

"Just a sip, I think," Katie said, twisting her hands in anxiety.

Elrond nodded and headed swiftly down the corridor to the sitting room. He found Elladan where Katie had left him, Elrohir and Vivian kneeling on either side of him. Elrohir sprang up to make room for his father.

"His heart rate has slowed down toward normal," Elrohir reported relatively calmly. "He had very little of the poison, and I think his body is fighting it off."

Elrond checked Elladan's pulse and felt his forehead. His son did not move from his position, his eyes shut with an expression of pain.

Elrond had far outdistanced Katie, who now ran back into the room, entirely winded. Vivian took one look at her and got up from the floor.

"You need to sit down, Sweetie," she said firmly, and steered her granddaughter into a nearby chair. "If you start to feel light-headed or sick, I want you to put your head down, alright?" Katie nodded, gulping. She was sure her own heart was racing as quickly as Elladan's—a result of fear and running.

_Please don't let him die, please don't let him die, please don't let him die,_ she thought over and over again.

"Where is the poison?" Elrond asked Elrohir, who handed him Elladan's glass. Elrond sniffed it, then looked for residue on the sides of the glass. What he found made him frown in consternation.

"Rat poison," he said shortly, and reached for the bottles he had brought. He murmured to Elladan in Elvish, and Elrohir helped his brother into a more upright position so that he could take the medicine. The act of swallowing it apparently made him feel sick again, because he clutched at his brother's arm and curled over his stomach again.

After what seemed to be a terribly long time, Elrohir helped his twin to stand and supported him out of the room and back to his own bedroom. Elrond rose and caught sight of Katie's agonized expression.

"He will be fine," he assured her. "Make sure no one touches any of that wine," he told Vivian before following his sons out of the room.

Katie put her down on her arms and began to sob with relief.

000

The rest of the wine was safely disposed of, and they met in Elrond's study and hour later. The meetings seemed to be all too frequent, lately.

Elrohir entered last of all. "He is asleep," he said, sitting down in an empty armchair. He shook his head. "Rat poison."

"I've seen a container of rat poison in the stable," Katie said quietly, Sadron on her mind.

"There is a similar container in almost every building in Rivendell," Glorfindel told her.

"It simply does not make sense, any more than the notes did," Elrond said, frustration creeping into his voice. "Rat poison has no odor, but a bitter flavor. Our poisoner simply dumped a very large amount of the powder into a flask of wine. He must have known that after one drink, the victim would not ingest any more."

"Elladan did make a bit of a face after he tried the wine," Elrohir said.

Katie hadn't noticed this, but then, the elves were pretty good at hiding their emotions, and she wasn't surprised that Elrohir had seen a reaction in his twin that she had not.

"That amount he took was not enough to kill him, just enough to make him ill," Elrond continued. "If the culprit intended to kill an elf with this wine, he planned his work very badly."

"Praise the Valar he did," Erestor murmured.

"Maybe the poison was meant for one of us—for Katie or me," Vivian spoke up. "That amount would probably kill a human."

Elrohir shook his head. "I noticed that flask of wine in the sitting room before we even asked the two of you to eat with us. I can only assume it was meant for Elladan or myself, or both of us. And the last note said 'your sons' and 'protect them'. If someone is trying to blackmail Adar, Elladan and I are likely targets."

"So who could have put the bottle there?" Katie asked.

"It was most likely placed in that room during the night; anyone could have done it."

Silence followed this remark. Everyone looked discouraged.

"If this person is trying to scare us, he's doing a damn good job of it, as far as I'm concerned," Katie grumbled. She glanced up at her grandmother, whose only reaction to her language was a steady gaze. "Sorry," she added automatically.

"None of this makes any sense," Glorfindel said, shaking his head.

000

Just after dinner, Lithorniel came to Lord Elrond to say that Arwen had arrived. Elrond had sent for her with news of her brother's condition, and she had come home to be with him and the rest of her family. Elrohir left to take her to see Elladan, and the table split up, still having come no nearer to an explanation for the strange and frightening occurrences.

Walking past the north balcony after dark, Katie saw a figure leaning against the railing, looking up at the stars. She wouldn't have known who it was, but for the fact that the silhouette in question had short hair, and she knew of only one short-haired elf in Rivendell.

She walked over and stood beside him, pausing to gaze up at the sky as well. It was as breathlessly beautiful as it had been every night she had spent in Rivendell. Neither of them spoke for a time.

"I'm scared," Katie finally admitted, her voice sounding small in the nighttime hush.

There was a pause. "I am as well," Elrohir said quietly. Katie turned to look up at him. His noble head, still beautiful despite his short hair, was encircled by a corona of stars.

"Elladan and I have gone through many dangers together. We battled the orcs in Rohan, and have gone questing against them for nigh five hundred years. Orcs are wholly evil, and tricky in their way. But even orcs you can trust to act in ways that make sense!" He gave a mirthless laugh, then was silent again. "I fear for my family. My brother, my sister, my father." He looked down at Katie. "And for you, _gwathel-nín_, and your grandmother. I fear for Rivendell, and all that I love. I fear that I cannot protect them as I would wish."

Katie moved a little closer to him, and Elrohir put his arm about her, warding her against the chilly night breeze.

"If it helps," she said, "I feel safer with you around."

He chuckled, and pulled her closer. "Believe it or not, that does help," he said.

000

So Katie went to bed that night no closer to a decision about Sadron. She had thought for a moment with the clue of rat poison that she had good proof, but as Glorfindel had said, there was plenty of it in Rivendell. She remembered seeing similar containers in the smithy and the kitchens. She really didn't have any proof whatsoever that Sadron had anything to do with the poisoning.

It disturbed her, though, that someone was imitating Dorlarth so closely—albeit badly. A knife in the grave of the elf Dorlarth murdered, two illegible notes on the door in an imitation of Dorlarth's handwriting, and an attempt to poison the twins as Dorlarth had poisoned Legolas. But the deeds pointed to no goal; they barely made sense. And the planning was not nearly as cunning as Dorlarth's had been. If it was indeed Sadron, then he was either very stupid or insane, and he certainly did not appear to be either. So once again, Katie decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

**TBC**

**

* * *

AN:** You get one more chapter to tide you over until my return. :) My goodness, lots of reviews. I'll have to write evil cliffies like that more often… 

**EresseElrondiel:** Oh, surely not the _worst_. Have you read Cassia and Siobhan's Mellon Chronicles?

**Erasuithiel:** It's not just you; I thought that when I read it. Putting a lot of thought into this, you are!

**Princess Siara:** Happy? lol

**Fk306**: Yes, not sure if I would've suspected the food or not. But so far the Dorlarth imitator hadn't actually done anyone any harm, so they weren't really looking for it. New school? Are you going to high school, or did you transfer?

**Madd Hatter**: Oh, I meant to tell you, I really like that painted landscape in your gallery. I can't comment on the page because I'm not a devart user.

**Renegade Kitsune**: Well, just make sure you're speaking to faded elves and not houseless _fëar!_

**Laer4572**: Sheared! lol I like that.

**Darkened Dreams**: Why on Arda would Lossefalme do something like that? She seems really sweet to me.

**theycallmemary**: You know, I'm honestly not sure what length his hair is to now. I have a suspicion it grows faster than human hair, but I don't really know. It doesn't quiet look like a buzz cut anymore, though. I'm able to write so much because I have no life. Seriously, all I've done most days this summer is sit in front of the computer all day. Is it any wonder I've written so much? lol Yep, Glorfindel's around, as you see by his comments in the little conference in this chapter.

**Ravens Destiny**: I have got to get a copy of that book. Seriously. I knew what symptoms I wanted Elladan to have, so I just wrote them. Then I got the idea that it might be rat poison, and looked that up. They used to use strychnine, so I (sort of) based it off of strychnine. "Strychnine is a white, odorless, bitter crystalline powder" found in a plant that grows in Asia. So what they've got in Middle-earth is probably similar, but not quite the same. Strychnine poisoning symptoms: Painful muscle spasms possibly leading to fever and to kidney and liver injury, Uncontrollable arching of the neck and back, Rigid arms and legs, Jaw tightness, Muscle pain and soreness, Difficulty breathing. So yeah, kinda accurate but not quite. Must get a copy of that book. It'd make my life that much easier…

**werewolflemming**: Thanks!

Thanks also to **IwishChan** and **Neassa**!

**Please review!**


	11. Oh Yet We Trust

**AN:** Okay, this chapter is important, so pay attention!

* * *

Elrond kept Elladan in bed the next day, just in case. Elrohir sat with him most of the morning, but in the afternoon Arwen told him to go out and get some fresh air. 

"Are you sure?" he said hesitantly. "I just want to be certain that—"

"I will be _fine_, _muindor-nín_," Elladan said with a chuckle. "I would be outside right now if Father did not want me to stay under observation for one more day."

"If anything happens, I will send for you and Father," Arwen said firmly.

Elrohir smiled. "For an invalid and a little sister, you two are very forceful," he teased them. But he did as they asked.

000

Vivian had taken to referring to herself, Elrohir, Erestor, and Katie as "our little study group". The four of them met in the hall and took a walk. They ended up at a cool, shaded little promenade where a few chairs were set overlooking the river.

Vivian closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she sat down. "This is lovely," she said blissfully. "The colors are so beautiful, I could almost eat them!"

They soon returned to their ongoing discussion of the _Athrabeth_. The more Katie had thought about it, the more she understood the idea that humans were corrupted. She was always irritated by her own lack of grace and strength, especially when she compared herself to the Elves. And as Vivian had said, every teenage girl, and a lot of other people as well, hated their bodies. Sometimes Katie looked in the mirror and almost didn't recognize herself, because her self-concept somehow didn't jive with her body and her face. It was something she had discussed with her girlfriends at home, and they had agreed that they had experienced the same thing. She could readily accept that Men were a fallen race and Elves weren't.

She also understood that Arda was marred by Morgoth. Nature was beautiful; she would never deny that—especially here, in Rivendell, where its beauty surrounded and enfolded her. But it was somehow corrupted too, like humans. Trees died, flowers died, animals died, and the world itself would someday end, and then all the beauty of the world would end with it. Erestor had even pointed out that diseases were a result of the Marring, which made sense. Diseases were caused by viruses and bacteria, which were basically tiny animals. They had become destructive, just as wargs and so forth here in Middle-earth. Humans were screwed up, and the world was screwed up.

"Where do the Valar come into all this, then: this story of Men being changed?" Katie asked Erestor during a lull in the conversation. "They're all through the stories of the Elves, but they don't seem to have been involved in the origins of Men—well, except for Morgoth."

"Finrod said that perhaps Men had fallen so far that they were beyond the reach of their help, and that is why the Valar did not deal in the affairs of Men after Men had fallen."

"And before?" Katie prompted.

Erestor gave a strange smile. "Perhaps you were too great for them to govern. Perhaps Men were once greater than the Valar—sole masters of yourself within Arda, under the hand of Ilúvatar."

Katie's eyes widened. "Greater than the _Valar_?" she exclaimed.

Vivian gave much the same smile as Erestor wore. "_Do you not know that we will judge angels?_" she murmured.

"The _Ainulindalë_ did say that the Valar would come to envy Men because of the gift of death that was given to them," Elrohir reminded Katie.

"Well, what was so great about humans bodily leaving Arda?" Katie asked, confused. "I don't get it."

"The bodies of the Children of Ilúvatar are made of the material of Arda," Erestor explained. "And so, when the bodies of Men were released from the circles of the world, that would mean that Arda, or a part of it, would be healed of the taint of Morgoth and would even be released from the limits that were set on it—the limits of Time and of Space. '_What was designed to be when Arda was complete— living things and even of the very lands and seas of Arda made eternal and indestructible, for ever beautiful and new… This then, I propound, was the errand of Men: not to be just those that come after the Elves, but the heirs and fulfillers of all: to heal the Marring of Arda and to do more, as agents of the magnificence of Ilúvatar! For that Arda Healed shall not be Arda Unmarred, but a third thing and a greater, and yet the same.'_"

"You mean," said Katie very slowly, trying to put all the pieces together, "that humans, in our original state, were created by Ilúvatar to fix the world? To make it even better than it was before it was screwed up by Morgoth?"

"Yes," Erestor said simply. "And you would have saved the Elves, as well. '_By the Second Children we might have been delivered from death. What lies before us is the completion of Arda and its end, and therefore the end also of us children of Arda. And then suddenly I beheld as a vision Arda Remade; and there the Eldar completed but not ended could abide in the present for ever, and there walk, maybe, with the Children of Men, their deliverers, and sing to them such songs as, even in the Bliss beyond bliss, should make the green valleys ring and the everlasting mountain-tops to throb like harps.' _Finrod said he believed the feeling of homesickness Men get when the look at the beauty of Arda is actually a longing for that Arda Remade."

The thought made joy swell up in Katie's heart and made her lift her head. And she saw that her grandmother's face was full of the same joy. The idea of the beauty of the world—a beauty that was even greater than that which it currently possessed—continuing forever! And themselves in it as well, with no more death, or sickness, or pain… Never becoming bored, never wishing for something else, but being completely at home in joy… Walking with the Elves as equals and even as their saviors! It was a wonderful thought. Then her heart fell again.

"But that'll never happen now," she said sadly. "We screwed up. Men disobeyed Ilúvatar, and we can't take our bodies with us when we die, and now there'll never be an Arda Remade, and all the beauty of nature will end, and the Elves will all die when the world does, and… Well, and that's it." Her shoulders slumped. She felt like she had been shown a tiny glimpse of a beautiful garden, and someone had said she could explore it, and then someone else shut the door and locked it, and now she would never get in. She felt her eyes fill with tears.

"You have to have hope, _gwathel-nín_," Elrohir said softly.

Katie felt the snap of anger. "What's the point? What's there to hope for if we know it can't be fixed?"

"You misunderstand me," Elrohir answered, still in the same gentle voice. "I mean, have _estel_. Have trust in Ilúvatar. We are truly His Children, and He will not allow Himself to be deprived of His own—not by Morgoth, or Sauron, and not even by ourselves. All of His plans are to give us joy."

They were quiet for a few minutes, while Katie wiped away her tears. She saw that her grandmother was looking at her with pity, but without the sorrow that she herself felt. She wondered why.

If everything that they had said was true, and Katie had no doubts that it was, then what a complete disaster Man's fall had been! Now everything was utterly hopeless. There was nothing to look forward to in death but a separation from her proper being, and a separation between herself and her loved ones forever. The world she lived in would end, the Elves would die—go out to no return, beyond even any hope of return. This beautiful world, no matter how much it had once satisfied her or not, would be gone. And it was all they had. All the animals and trees would be gone forever, the twilight and the starlight and the sunshine forever lost. And the world she had barely glimpsed and longed for so desperately, the vision of Arda Remade that Finrod had seen—it would never, ever come to pass.

The tears had fallen hot and fast, but they seemed to stop now. It was too unbearably sad, even for tears. It was a deep mourning that was taking root in her heart. If there was no Arda Remade to look forward to, there was no goal to history. It all led up to nothing. All the epic wars with Morgoth and Sauron, even all the things she had learned about in school—overthrowing Hitler, the civil rights movement, ecological conservation—what did _any_ of it matter? It was all going to end, the world would cease, and none of it would have achieved anything. People who died so nobly and so greatly for a good cause: they had died in vain. In the end, what would it matter if the Nazis brutally murdered millions of innocents, if minorities were oppressed and rejected, if Mankind completely destroyed nature, which he was made to protect? It was all going out to no return. Hadn't someone once said, "Meaningless, meaningless! Everything is meaningless."

It was no wonder Andreth despaired. Even having hope in Eru Ilúvatar—the One, the All-Father—to love them and save them was useless. How could he? They had put themselves beyond the aid of the Valar. Man had fallen. Man had screwed himself over. It was their choice, and they had blown it, and blown it for everyone. How could anyone hope? How could Ilúvatar save them from a decision they had made wrongly? How could he keep them from being separated from him, even by their own choice? And why _would_ he? They had wronged and disobeyed him. How could he still love them and want them?

In the silence, Vivian turned to Elrohir and began to quote a poem Katie had never heard her recite before.

"_Oh, yet we trust that somehow good  
__Will be the final end of ill,  
__To pangs of nature, sins of will,  
__Defects of doubt, and taints of blood;_

"_That nothing walks with aimless feet;  
__That not one life shall be destroy'd,  
__Or cast as rubbish to the void,  
__When God hath made the pile complete;_

"_That not a worm is cloven in vain;  
__That not a moth with vain desire__  
I shrivell'd in a fruitless fire,  
__Or but subserves another's gain._

"_Behold, we know not anything;  
__I can but trust that good shall fall  
__At last—far off—at last, to all,  
__And every winter change to spring._

"_So runs my dream: but what am I?  
__An infant crying in the night:  
__An infant crying for the light:  
__And with no language but a cry."_

Katie felt the tears welling up again as her grandmother finished, and clenched her fists in her lap to try and keep herself from crying.

But Vivian immediately turned to Erestor with a knowing look on her face. "But that's not all, is it?" she persisted. "You know something more."

Katie frowned. Something more? Could there be anything that would not lead her in the end to despair?

Erestor nodded. "There is something more, but it is almost too fantastic to be believed. But if it is true, then there is indeed hope for the Creation, and for us. Andreth spoke to Finrod of something she called the 'Old Hope'." His voice rang out in the open hall and made the very trees tremble. "'_They say,' said Andreth, 'they say that the One will Himself enter into Arda, and heal Men and all the Marring from the beginning to the end.'"_

Katie saw with amazement that her grandmother was crying now, weeping with absolute joy, her face shining. She lifted her head and declared, "He _will_ come. In our time, He already has!"

Erestor and Elrohir were gazing at Vivian with the same look of wonder as that on Katie's face, but their joy was deeper because they understood better. "You seemed different to us," Elrohir said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Like a human, and yet not like any human we had met…" He trailed off.

Vivian nodded. "I am a Woman Remade," she said. "I'm part of the New Creation, part of Arda Healed."

**TBC**

**

* * *

AN:** Now ya know. Toldja the philosophical conversations were important!. :) And they'll be even more important presently. 

Kudos to **cat**, who figured it out first! And to **Thalion**, who got it right before this post.

"Do you not know that we will judge angels?"—1 Corinthians 6:3a

""Meaningless! Meaningless!" says the Teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.""—Ecclesiastes 1:2

"Oh, yet we trust"—Alfred, Lord Tennyson, from _In Memorium_. _In Memorium_ is fantastic. So's all of Tennyson's work, really…

**Napolde**: Ain't that the truth!

**Fk306**: Yeah, it definitely helps to know your way around. Good luck!

**EresseElrondiel**: —_chases after reviewer, wielding a flyswatter_— You bring that elf back here! He's mine! —_whap whap whap_—

**Darkened Dreams**: lol!

**Princess Siara**: —_hugs back, then stuffs the twins in her suitcase, trying not to get Elladan's hair in the zipper_—

**IwishChan**: Well, rat poison is a good thing to have around. The buildings in Rivendell are very open, so it would be easy for rats to get in. So they keep a bit of rat poison in a lot of the building (particularly the kitchens and the stables, etc) just in case.

**Ravens Destiny**: Very barbaric.

**Laer4572**: "Female" does tend to imply "not male". lol

**theycallmemary:** You may be right, but at that time/culture, rats would probably have been quite prevalent, and no matter how much you love living creatures, you don't want them biting the horses and getting in the food. No, I posted before I left. _Now_ I'm back from camp. :) Legolas won't be in this sequel, but he will in the next, I promise.

**Doredhil**: Thanks. It just makes all the philosophy of Middle-earth so much closer to home when you realize that it's the same world.

**Erasuithiel**: Actually, I don't think any of the Elves really faded all that much until after the War of the Ring, when they _really_ did a lot. Orain worked under Dorlarth, so he probably knew him pretty well and liked him. Blowin' smoke with the hobbits!

**Thalion**: It was indeed the fifteenth. Congrats! You got it right. BTW, I didn't actually say that you could worship God equally _well_ in a synagogue, mosque or church, I just said that you could worship him in any of them. Jews, Muslims and Christians all worship the same God, so if you want to worship Eru, those are your options, that's all.

Thanks also to **werewolflemming** and **Madd Hatter**!

**Please review**! If you didn't get any of what was said in this chapter, **please ask**! It's very important to the theme and plot.


	12. The Reason For It All

**AN:** Ookay, I encountered some confusion about Vivian's identity at the end of the last chapter, which I expected, so here's a basic rundown.

Morgoth screwed up creation, and tempted Mankind to evil. Men, of our own free will, fell to temptation and disobeyed Eru, thereby bringing judgment down on ourselves so that we have bodies that wear out and die. In short, it's all screwed up, and it's mostly our fault. We were created to "heal" the wrong that Morgoth had done in creation, and instead, we only made it worse. So creation could never become the amazing perfect thing it was supposed to, and everything is pointless and hopeless.

But there's the Old Hope, (that is, the Old _Estel_) which says that one day, the Creator Himself will enter his creation and heal it all, and bring about Arda Remade/Healed. The Elves of Middle-earth look forward to this in the future. But remember, Vivian and Katie are _from_ the future, from our time. And by our time, this thing has already happened. Vivian has already begun to be healed, and is becoming part of Arda Healed/Remade. Katie has not. Read on to discover more.

* * *

Katie shook her head as if she had water in her ears. "Wait. What? Ilúvatar came into creation? When did _that_ happen, and why didn't I notice?" 

Vivian grinned as she wiped away tears. "It happened two thousand years ago, Honey. None of us were born yet."

Katie frowned. Two thousand years…

Suddenly it was all clear, and she realized what they had really been talking about for the past few weeks. For a moment, her brain refused to function, caught in shock. When she came back to the present, Elrohir was speaking, his voice awed.

"But how is it you are Remade, and Katie is not? You are completely human, and yet not so. But Katie is just like every other human we know. How can that be, if Ilúvatar healed His creation?"

"Because I never believed," Katie said slowly and softly. "I heard about it, but I'm not sure I ever really _got_ it before, and I never really believed it." She smiled a little strangely. "I had no _estel_; I didn't believe or trust in Ilúvatar. I had no faith in him."

"Do you have faith in him now?" Elrohir asked her quietly.

She put her hands over her face and rubbed her eyes. "I don't know yet," she answered truthfully.

"And how is it that you say Arda is Remade, and you are Remade?" Elrohir asked, turning to Vivian. "The world is still running down to an end; I saw as much when I visited in your time. It is still dying. And you are still human, though you are a new creation, as well."

Vivian nodded. "My body is going to die. I was born human, born to death and decay, and that death and decay will still come to pass. It is the same for Nature. But I will be given a new body; I will be resurrected. And so will the creation. That is what I said to you when you were in despair in our time. I and Nature will die, only to be reborn and remade.

"And we have proof, even here in this time, that it will be Remade. How could Humans glimpse the New Creation in the old, if it did not exist? Arda Remade is timeless, just as Ilúvatar is, without beginning or end. Though it was created at a certain point in history, it was created eternal, and so we do not glimpse a limited future when we glimpse it; we see that which already is, was, and yet will be."

Erestor still looked puzzled. "Finrod and Andreth wondered how the Creator could enter the creation, if he was eternal and it was limited. He would be too large for it. They recognized that his spirit was all through it—the Flame Imperishable—and also outside of it, but how could he actually enter it?"

Katie suddenly had a mental image of God writing himself as a self-insertion into a piece of fanfiction and had to choke back a laugh. She was in a very strange mood at the moment…

"Eru, the One, is in three persons," Vivian said matter-of-factly. "The creator, Ilúvatar; the spirit, the Flame Imperishable; and Eru who enters his creation, the Savior. Ilúvatar isn't the Flame Imperishable, the Flame isn't the Savior, and the Savior isn't Ilúvatar, but they're all Eru."

Erestor nodded. "That makes sense."

"No it doesn't," Katie said with a little laugh.

Erestor smiled at her. "It works with what we know of Ilúvatar and the Flame, so in that way, it does make sense." He paused. "And if no one in Arda can truly understand it, it seems to me that there are two choices: either it is nonsense, or it is something that is true, and we are simply too limited to comprehend it. If there is any truth in it, then we can see that it was not made up by anyone in Arda, because they would invent something that made sense, not something that sounded like nonsense. Logically, it does indeed make sense."

Katie shook her head again with a smile. "I think I'll try to figure out what you just said when I've got a couple of hours to devote to it."

"How did the Savior heal Arda?" Elrohir wanted to know. "Did he come in and reform it, vanquishing the evil within it?"

Vivian squinted. "Not quite. Honestly," she said with a little chuckle, "I don't really know how it works. He became a Man; his spirit was knit to human flesh. That's the incarnation. He became an incarnate, one of the Children of Ilúvatar, just like us." She indicated all of them, Elves and Humans alike. "Then, He died." Erestor and Elrohir looked horrified at this pronouncement. But Vivian followed it up. "He experienced death, in the same terrible way all humans now experience it. But Ilúvatar raised him from the dead."

"That has happened before," Erestor pointed out. "Beren was sent back from the dead."

"But he died again, didn't he?" Vivian answered. "But the Savior never died again. When he was resurrected, he came back with an entirely new kind of body. He came back in the way humans were originally, with their spirits perfectly matched to their bodies. And he ascended out of Arda—he 'left Arda, and took his body with him!'" she exclaimed, using Katie's words. They all laughed. "In the combination of those four things, he somehow healed Arda and made it possible for Men to be healed. I don't understand how it works. I don't need to. I just need to know that it _does_ work. I don't know how the channel changes on my TV when I press the button, I just need to know that I can press the button and the channel will change. I just need to know that I can turn to the Savior, and my own channel will change."

They were all quiet for awhile, thinking. Katie realized her hands were shaking, and she watched them with abstracted fascination.

She heard Elrohir take a deep breath, and looked up at him. He was staring into space, thinking hard. "That was the reason," he said to himself.

"What?"

He turned to Katie with an amazed smile on his face. "The reason you were sent to our time," he clarified. "It wasn't just to saved Estel's life, or to protect Rivendell. It was for this conversation." Katie frowned at him, and he turned more fully toward her to explain.

"You came to Rivendell and stayed with us, and got to know us. Then you did something you were supposed to do here, and went back to your own time. But who can say that was the only purpose for which you were brought? Because we got to know you, we were taken to your time, and I was depressed by the decay I saw around us. Because of that, you took me to meet Vivian. We saved her life, and so were returned to Rivendell. Then you were brought back to Rivendell in exactly the right time and place to find the marker, and saved Rivendell. But between finding the marker and using it, you learned much more about the world and about creation. Then, when Vivian came, that and my own visit to your time led us to the realization that we were both from the same world, and that led to reading the _Athrabeth_…"

Katie leaned back in her chair and put her hand on her head as if she were trying keep her brains from jumping ship. She was too amazed to speak. He was right; everything had led up to this, to this moment and this conversation. This had been the point of everything all along.

Vivian began to laugh, and laughed until the tears rolled down her face. Erestor only smiled and shook his head in amazement. "_'Yes, Wise-woman,'"_ he quoted, "'_maybe it was ordained that we Elves and ye Humans, ere the world grows old, should meet and bring news one to another, and so we should learn of the Hope from you: ordained, indeed, that thou and I, Andreth, should sit here and speak together, across the gulf that divides our kindreds, so that while the Shadow still broods we should not be wholly afraid.' _Our hands have touched in the darkness."

**TBC**

**

* * *

AN:** I know that chapter was short, but it was important, and I wanted it to stand on its own. I'm already working on the next chapter, so you won't have to wait long for it. But honestly, this chapter and one before are the very center of this entire series of stories. They're the most important part, and they will be major to the plot later on, so I hope nobody is just ignoring them because there's no action. 

**Ravens Destiny**: Hope your new job is going well!

**Laer4572**: Mmmnope. Eru is the only one who can fix it, and he already has.

**IwishChan**: I hope you get it now? Please ask if you don't, and I can be more specific. :)

**Madd Hatter**: Thank you for taking the time to read it again to get it! Makes me feel happy. lol Yep, stupid Morgoth, and stupid us! It's mostly our fault, really…

**Redone**: Well, it's all directly from Tolkein's _Athrabeth_, I just put it together with our own time to point a couple of things out. It's all right there in the Tolkein canon.

**theycallmemary**: Nope, because Katie never believed it. Remember, the Elves sensed that Vivian was different than Katie. —_grins very widely_— I am happy to be able to tell you, it is indeed all true! Maybe the Elves existed and maybe they didn't, but all the philosophy is true. Pretty freakin awesome, huh? All the info comes from the _Athrabeth_, and the ideas from that came from the Bible. The little bits I added myself for explanation mostly come from C S Lewis, who of course got his stuff from the Bible, too. In chapter 14 ("The Grand Miracle") from Lewis's work _Miracles_, Lewis actually discusses, if there are other intelligent races out there in the universe, how they fit into redemption. It's fascinating. If you get any more confused, please ask! My email's on the bio page, if you want to correspond. The action is coming then, I promise. Katie's brain needs a rest from the philosophy as much as yours does!. :) Nope, Viv's not like the Valar. And yes, I've read about the music magic. It's fascinating, but it does sound like a bit of a pain in the butt to perform.

**Please review, and ask if you're confused!** Hugs all around! (And if you don't want one from the author, I'm sure the Elves will be happy to oblige.)


	13. Sins of Will

They sat and spoke in awed voices for some time, mulling over all that they had learned from one another. Sometimes they all began to laugh for no reason except for the joy that welled up in their hearts, and sometimes they wept, for the same reason. It was the most amazing feeling Katie had ever experienced, more real and more deep than anything she could think of. She felt sometimes like a great piece of music was welling up inside her head and her chest, building to great crescendo, and it was so powerful that if it got any louder, it was going to kill her. It was like God Himself had leaned down, put his lips right next to her ear, and shouted, "WAKE UP!"

They stayed on the porch until the shadows lengthened and twilight drew near. Then they rose together by some tacit consent and began to walk slowly back toward the main part of the house.

Katie decided it was time to change the subject. She had heard so much today that she knew would be boiling in her head for quite awhile to come, and she needed a break from it. So when they ended up at Elrond's office, and Elrohir asked after his brother, she was relieved and jumped right into the conversation.

"He is much better," Elrond answered his son, "and he will be allowed to get up tomorrow. I only wish we knew who the culprit was, so we could stop all of this."

"You know," Katie said, finally making a decision, "I thought for awhile it was Sadron."

Silence greeted this pronouncement, but nobody seemed angry. "Why is that?" Elrond finally asked.

"Well, I saw Lossefalme arguing with somebody one night, and the person went into the stable. I thought it was Sadron she was talking with. Then I realized that Sadron was out of the stable right before we found the knife in Orain's grave, so he could've put it there.

"And the stable is really near the kitchen door, where the notes were left. He could've passed the door and stuck the note on right before he met us at the riverside that first time. I thought maybe Lossefalme had guessed that he did it, and he was threatening her to keep her mouth shut. After we found the second note, I thought he gave her a funny look, and she seemed scared. And there's a container of rat poison in the stable. He could've been one of Dorlarth's followers, and was trying to get revenge or something." She shrugged. "But it's all circumstantial. And I like Sadron so much, I didn't want it to be true, and I didn't want to accuse him."

Elrond scrutinized her face, and she could almost see him thinking. Erestor and Elrohir seemed to be doing the same.

"Lossefalme and Sadron had an argument?" Erestor asked quietly. "When was this?"

"Right after the first note was found," Katie answered. "Why?"

"Because I seem to remember that I found it strange when I saw Sadron give Lossefalme a suspicious look that afternoon by the river," Erestor answered slowly. "You don't suppose…"

Katie made a disbelieving face. "_Lossefalme?_ No way. She's far too good to be one of Dorlarth's followers. Just like Sadron. The notes still don't make sense, anyway. Why would she be writing in Dorlarth's handwriting?" She laughed. "She'd have to be channeling Dorlarth's spir—"

She stopped abruptly, and her eyes widened. She clapped her hands over her mouth. "His _fëa_," she whispered. "His houseless _fëa_…"

Before every frightening incident, Lossefalme had been coming back from picking flowers in that secret spot. Erestor had told her that Houseless _fëar_ sometimes liked to haunt places they had once known. And Lithorniel had told her that Lossefalme had learned about that secret spot from "a senior member of staff."

Dorlarth, the former head butler.

He had been tainted in life, so it wasn't surprising that he had refused the summons to Mandos. He haunted the secret flower place, and Lossefalme must have met up with him there. And Lossefalme, Katie had always thought, was somehow sillier than most elves. No elves were truly silly, but Lossefalme was young and sometimes unwise. It would be just like her to try and communicate with a ghost, try to help it, and get herself possessed by it. She had probably felt bad for Dorlarth, and offered his spirit shelter in her body, and he was slowly taking over. First just a knife hidden in a secret place, then an actual note written through her—that was why the handwriting seemed to phase out between Dorlarth's and her own, and why the note didn't make any sense! Dorlarth's spirit had only imperfect control. Then it had happened again, and then Dorlarth actually succeeded in coercing her to try and poison someone, albeit very clumsily. But he was gaining power, and maybe his next try wouldn't be so clumsy…

They all exchanged frightened glances, and Katie knew everyone else in the room had thought the same thing.

"We have to find Lossefalme immediately," Elrond said, and they all rushed out the door. As she followed behind them, Katie thought she heard Elrohir say, "How I wish Mithrandir were here!" Katie mentally agreed. How on Arda were they going to eject a houseless _fëa_ from somebody without harming them? Erestor had said that the body the _fëar_ were fighting over could be gravely injured in the struggle, and Lossefalme's spirit might even be ejected from her body, and then Dorlarth would control her completely! Dorlarth had been an elf, so his spirit was as strong as the other elves'. Maybe Elrond could eject him, but maybe he couldn't. What were they going to do?

They sped down the hall toward the kitchen, meeting Lithorniel on the way.

"Lithorniel!" Elrond called as he came upon her. "Where is Lossefalme? Is she in the kitchens?"

Lithorniel looked puzzled and a little frightened by this agitated crew that was waiting for her response, but she answered immediately. "Lossefalme? No, she went to carry a dinner tray to Lord Elladan. Why, what is wrong?"

But they were gone already, running for Elladan's room. The elves quickly outstripped Katie, and she and Vivian were well behind when they heard Arwen in the corridor.

"What is it?"

"Where is Lossefalme?" Elrohir asked urgently.

"She is in Elladan's room, tidying up," Arwen answered. "She brought him dinner, but he is asleep. She said she would watch over him for me whilst I went and ate."

Elrohir was gone after the first sentence, and so was the first to come up to Elladan's room. He flung the door open and raced in.

Katie heard the commotion as she ran past a startled Arwen, and the sight that greeted her eyes at the door was terrifying.

Erestor, Elrond, and Elrohir were all trying desperately to restrain Lossefalme, who seemed to have gone mad. Her eyes were so wide they looked like they were going to come out of her head, and she was screaming incoherently at Elladan, the only intelligent words being obscenities. Elladan was sitting watching her in complete confusion and not a little fear as she slathered and struggled to free herself from her captors. Elrohir seemed to have wrenched a knife from her hand; she must have gone for Elladan with it once Arwen had left the room. Lossefalme was almost unrecognizable; it was obvious that her own spirit was not the one controlling her body.

It was a few moments before Vivian could catch up with them in the room, but the instant she did, Katie fell back from her. There was a power coming from her which was nearly overwhelming.

No, not _from_ her, Katie realized. _Through _her.

Vivian simply strode over to Lossefalme, who was now trying to bite the hands that held her, her hair loose and flying around her face as she writhed in rage. Vivian took on the tone of voice Katie had only ever rarely heard her grandmother use before, a forceful tone like a mother vehemently scolding a child who was hurting someone.

"You stop that this instant and let her be!" she commanded, in a louder voice than Katie had thought she was capable of. "Leave her and go out, never to return! In the name of Eru Himself, I command you!"

Lossefalme went rigid and gave a hideous shriek that made all of Katie's hair stand on end. Then she suddenly collapsed and crumpled up on the floor. In a moment, she looked up at them all, and they could see that she was herself again. She buried her face in her hands and began to sob.

Vivian stepped back from her and over to her granddaughter in the commotion that followed. Elrohir was checking over his brother and questioning if Lossefalme had hurt him. Elrond himself was examining Lossefalme, to see that no physical harm had come to her. Lithorniel and Arwen, who had followed Vivian into the room, had come forward to soothe and calm their friend, and they were followed by the guards, who came running from every side of the house to investigate and protect their lord.

Katie realized she was shaking with fear, and Vivian put her arms around her, in that comforting, grandmotherly way.

When Katie could speak again, she pulled back and looked up at her. "I think you've done it, Gram," she said. Vivian smiled down at her. What the elves had not been able to do, and Mithrandir had not been there to do, Katie's grandmother had done. The Woman Remade.

Katie looked over at Elrohir. He gave her a half-smile, and simply nodded at her, not trying to speak over the noise. Katie felt her heart warm at that expression, and then she heard the sound she was expecting: bells.

Katie suddenly found herself standing on the dirt road that led to the Watson College soccer field. She looked down at herself and began to laugh. She was still wearing an elven dress.

"What a spectacle I'm going to make!" she said out loud, still laughing. "I think I'll go to Dana's soccer game some other day." She turned and began to walk back toward her dorm, still chuckling, her heart flying with joy.

**TBC**

**

* * *

AN:** Another abrupt ending… There's still an epilogue to go on this one! 

Cool LotR fact of the day: As far as I know, Tolkein never actually said Elves' ears were pointy. If anybody can find a reference proving me wrong, do let me know! I also recently discovered that he never said Elrond and Elros were twins, just brothers. I must've gotten that idea from the Mellon Chronicles.

**Laer4572**: Agreed! And I can totally see Vivian giving you a friendly smack upside the head…

**Princess Siara**: lol Congrats!

**werewolflemming**: Thank you very much! Glad you took the time to try and understand it!

**IwishChan**: Cool email address, BTW!

**RenegadeKitsune**: Yeah, it was! Thanks!

**Fk306**: Please tell me what you're confused on, and I'll try to answer you questions! You can review or email me.

**Darkened Dreams**: Really, all I did was present the parallels that are already extant in Tolkein's work. He visualized Arda as the same world as ours, only in the past, so he shaped it accordingly. Thanks!

**Tara**: Thank you! Your review made writing the fic totally worth it. :) I need to go back and try to read the Silmarillion again myself. I'm going to keep the family trees in front of me and take notes on all the F names this time… lol

**Calime07**: Wow, an hour? Thank you for making the effort to understand! Five time—I'm not sure I'd have the patience! lol Another review that just made my day!

**theycallmemary**: Emailed reviewer: Check!

**Ravens Destiny**: Movie theater—that sounds like fun. Better than my work-study job… Actually, when I first started writing "Something Rotton" I had _no idea_ where any of it was going. I just started writing. And then the plot came together on its own. And then I decided I wanted to write a sequel, and that was when the whole idea began to form. And the third sequel, I put in the bit with the marker in the beginning, but I didn't know how the whole show-down was gonna work out, and then I had the idea for the big _Athrabeth_ conversation… Really, the story kind of made me write it. I seriously think God is writing this through me, because I can't come up with this kind of cool stuff on my own! lol He wanted me to write it, so I let him take charge. Love your summing up! Good thing you did that, since you needed it for this chappie!

**Madd Hatter**: Share the popcorn! lol Glad you got it!

**Please review**, my little croutons! Review like a llama!


	14. Epilogue

_God moves in a mysterious way  
__His wonders to perform;  
__He plants His footsteps in the sea  
__And rides upon the storm._

_Deep in unfathomable mines  
__Of never-failing skill  
__He treasures up His bright designs  
__And works His sovereign will._

_Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;  
__The clouds ye so much dread  
__Are big with mercy and shall break  
__In blessings on your head._

_Judge not the Lord by feeble sense.  
__But trust Him for His grace;  
__Behind a frowning providence  
__He hides a smiling face._

_His purposes will ripen fast,  
__Unfolding every hour;  
__The bud may have a bitter taste,  
__But sweet will be the flower._

_Blind unbelief is sure to err  
__And scan His work in vain;  
__God is His own Interpreter,  
__And He will make it plain._

—_Light Shining Out of Darkness_, William Cowper

000

Katie called her grandmother while Megan was out of the room that evening, just to make sure that she had come back, as well. They mulled over the dramatic ending to their most recent stay in Rivendell, and then were quiet for a minute.

"Gram?" Katie finally said.

"Yes, Dear?"

Katie took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She felt hot with fear, but there was also a great element of joy in it. She made herself say the words and take the leap.

"…Would you please pray with me?"

She could hear the wide smile in her grandmother's voice. "Of course I will, Sweetie."

000

In Rivendell, Lossefalme had a long talk with Lord Elrond about what she had done, and was very truly repentant. The experience had frightened Lossefalme very much. She had practiced necromancy, a deed justly forbidden by the Valar. She sailed to Aman the next year, and a good friend accompanied her: Sadron. He had guessed what was happening and confronted Lossefalme about it, but like Katie, he had had only circumstantial evidence, and so did not carry his suspicions to Lord Elrond. Now he took her under his wing.

Elrohir and Erestor talked much in the following years over what they had learned from Vivian, whom they called Merenind—that is, Joyous-heart. She was accounted by them a _saelon_, a wise woman in the order of Andreth, but with a Hope Andreth had not. They shared the knowledge she had taught them with Elrond and Elladan, and with Mithrandir, when he came. As time passed, these slowly put the thoughts away, as a light too bright to look at. But Elrohir treasured up these things and pondered them many times in his heart.

Soon after Vivian and Katie's departure, Arwen returned to Lothlórien, where she remained for some time. Estel wandered in the wild and fought against Sauron for nearly thirty years, and became good friends with Gandalf the Wise. He took the name Thorongil and rode in the host of the Rohirrim, and fought for the Lord of Gondor by land and by sea. He traveled far, into the East and the South, before coming at the age of nine and forty to Lórien. And there he met again with Arwen beneath the trees of Caras Galadon, and there Arwen's choice was made and her doom appointed.

But that is for another story.

**The End**

…**Only not…**

**

* * *

AN: I have noooo idea what the next sequel is going to be called, but there definitely will be one! And you Legolas fans will be glad to know, he'll be in it. See you all on the next fic! (Answers to reviews for this chapter will be at the end of chapter 1 of the next sequel.)**

**Princess Siara**: No, I think Elladan was in a bit of shock… Thanks!

**Laer4572**: Tablecloth! Hee hee!

**Ravens Destiny**: —_nods, then joins in the pirouettes_—

Thanks also to **IwishChan**!

Did you know that there is less than one review for every ten hits on my chapters? Don't be a statistic! **Please review**! lol


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